Fans of an iconic Canadian rock band have humiliated U.S. President Donald Trump by refusing to comply with his geographical fantasy.
Canadian band Blue Rodeo performed at Toronto’s RBC Amphitheater on Saturday. The iconic venue is located directly on the Lake Ontario waterfront.
Trump wants the lake, which spans the U.S. Canada border, renamed “Lake America.”
Blue Rodeo’s performance at the venue, which holds 16,000 people, saw the band play their 1993 fan favorite, “Hasn’t Hit Me Yet,” which features the lyrics, “Watching the snow fall on this cold December night, and out in the middle of Lake Ontario, the same snow is falling on the deep silent water.”
On Saturday, before lead vocalist Greg Keelor played the tune, he told the audience, “At the end of this song, there’s a mention of a lake. It’s a lake right behind us right there.” Fans could also watch Keelor’s comments via a YouTube livestream.
Pointing to the lake and noting that its name has “become a little controversial,” Keelor added, “I would just like you to sing tonight with full authority and ownership. And we’ll sing this one for the shining waters that have been there long before any of us were ever here.”
The crowd dutifully obliged, and could be heard shouting “Lake Ontario” and gleefully cheering at using the original name of the lake in defiance of Trump.
To hammer the point home, screens behind the band displayed a map of the area, still labeled “Lake Ontario,” despite Google changing the name on the map for users in America. Fans in the audience had shared footage of the maps online.
After the song ended, Keelor said, “That was some good singing, folks. You’re good Canadians. God bless you. We love you for it.” Saturday also happened to be Keelor’s 72nd birthday.
His bandmate, Jim Cuddy, told the audience after the singalong, “that was chilling, folks. We are who we are, right? F--- ‘em.”
Blue Rodeo shared a string of fan-shot videos to its Instagram stories, taken from different vantage points in the crowd, showing the audience gleefully singing “Lake Ontario.”
One social media user pointed out the moment was “perfection,” while another said Blue Rodeo fans showed up for “Canada and Lake Ontario” at the show.
The Daily Beast has contacted reps for Blue Rodeo and the White House for comment.
Canada has already pushed back against Trump’s latest name change. On Saturday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford erected a large sign in his province with Lake Ontario’s name and reading “Now and Always.”
“You may have heard that President Trump is trying to rename this lake, all because he doesn’t like Ontario and Canada standing up for ourselves,” Ford said. “But let’s be serious. Long before President Trump, this lake was called Lake Ontario, and long after President Trump is gone, it will still be called Lake Ontario.”
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney also made his feelings clear.
“This lake is called Lake Ontario-today and forever,” Carney wrote on X, adding that the name “dates well before the Canadian Confederation and the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America.”
Trump posted a bizarre AI-generated video to his Truth Social on Saturday, where he kicks a “Welcome to Lake Ontario” sign over, replaces it with “Welcome to Lake America,” while dancing to the Village People’s “Y.M.C.A.”
Trump was still salty about Canada on his Truth Social on Sunday.
He began by trying to justify his feud with Canada over tariffs, including his threat to double tariffs on Canadian vehicles from 25 percent to 50 percent from January 1.
“I don’t want Canadian cars, I don’t want Canadian parts, I don’t want Canadian anything,” Trump said. “They’ve been ripping us off for decades, and it’s going to stop.”
He claimed, “I deal with the Leadership of many Countries, but I find Canada to be the worst. They are entitled no longer!”
In another post, Trump then invited all Canadian companies doing business with America to “move to the United States, immediately.” He promised, “When you move back, there are no TARIFFS!”
That was followed by another rant stating, “Our long ago stolen businesses are now coming back to America in order to avoid paying tariffs. They are lining up, just like the rest of the World!!!”
