Big names from many different walks of life — from musicians to late-night show hosts and from actors to podcasters — have fired back at Donald Trump over the tariffs he’s levied on Canadian goods and his move to rename Lake Ontario.
asserted
he → fire → Ontario
Most recently, the U.S. president signed an executive order renaming the lake “Lake America” in the U.S., following a bitter public spat with Ontario Premier Doug Ford and the collapse of trade talks between Canada and the United States.
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president → sign → Canada
Prime Minister Mark Carney suspended negotiations just before Trump’s Aug. 21 midnight deadline for new tariffs, calling the “last-minute changes” made by the U.S. to its proposed terms “unfair, uneconomic and called into question the reliability of any deal.”
The Trump administration has since slapped 50 per cent tariffs on nearly $28 billion worth of Canadian goods, while Ottawa has promised counter-tariffs starting Sept. 8.
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Ottawa → suspend → tariffs
Here’s how some prominent people have reacted.
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people → ’ → ?
Jelly Roll
American rapper and singer Jelly Roll joined “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” as a guest host on Aug. 24 and 25, around the time when Trump first started proposing the idea of Lake Ontario.
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Trump → join → Ontario
“Here’s the thing, you can’t make the Great Lakes great again, they’re already great, it’s in the f—king name!” he joked, referencing the U.S. president’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.
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America → ’ → slogan
Jelly Roll also questioned Trump’s new tariffs on Canada.
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Roll → question → Canada
“I hate to break it to the president, but we don’t have a problem with Canada, you have a problem with Canada,” he said to loud cheers.
“I say we let ‘em fight it out, Donald Trump versus all of Canada, like the end of Gladiator,” he joked.
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he → hate → Gladiator
Branding the hypothetical as the “Maple Mayhem” and “Saskatoon Smackdown,” Jelly Roll shared a mock-up of a poster with Trump facing Canadian hockey player Connor McDavid.
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Roll → brand → McDavid
“Just the president against 31 million hockey goons on the White House lawn,” he said.
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he → say → lawn
Seth Meyers
“Late Night with Seth Meyers” may be on a two-month-long hiatus but its host has continued mocking Trump’s escalating feud with Canada through his video podcast series “A Closer Look: Proof of Life And/Or Out of Office.”
uncertain
host → continue → Office
On Aug. 25, Meyers called Trump’s decision to go to war with Canada a “one-sided lunacy” and joked that Ontario Premier Doug Ford looked like a dollar store version of the president.
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Ford → call → president
The following week, he turned his attention to the lake renaming.
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he → turn → renaming
“This is some real dork sh—,” Meyers said on his Sept. 3 episode.
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Meyers → say → episode
“They’re just such dorks,” the host continued.
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host → ’re → ?
“It is a real reminder that they can’t actually accomplish anything.”
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they → accomplish → anything
Meyers also joked that changing the lake’s name would have little practical impact.
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changing → joke → impact
“Nobody is like, ‘That’s so great.
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That → ’ → ?
Every time we’d go swimming in Lake Ontario, we had to bring our passport.”
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we → go → passport
Controversial American podcaster Joe Rogan also questioned Trump’s move during the Sept. 1 episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience.”
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Rogan → question → Experience
Isn’t it connected to Ontario?” the American host asked his guest, comedian Brian Simpson.
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host → connect → guest
Simpson later asked Rogan if he knew the purpose of Trump’s renaming efforts.
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he → ask → efforts
“To distract you from the fact that we’re in a war that we can’t win in Iran,” Rogan said.
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Rogan → distract → Iran
“It doesn’t make any sense,” he continued, laughing.
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he → make → sense
“Like who cares (if) it’s Lake Ontario?
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it → care → ?
It’s a good name.
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It → ’ → ?
We’ve had that name forever.”
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We → have → name
Rogan, a longtime Trump supporter who endorsed him ahead of the 2024 election and then attended his inauguration in January 2025, has grown increasingly critical of the Trump administration.
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who → endorse → administration
He has opposed Trump over issues including the ongoing conflict with Iran and wide-ranging deportations, calling an operation to detain immigrants “horrific.”
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He → oppose → immigrants
In 2022, Rogan also drew criticism in Canada after calling the country “communist” and referring to then-prime minister Justin Trudeau as a “dictator” over the leader’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Rogan → draw → pandemic
Actor George Clooney criticized the Trump administration’s rhetoric toward Canada while attending the Venice Film Festival on Sept. 2.
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Clooney → criticize → Sept.
Clooney singled out a social media post by U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth featuring two female Canadian military cadets, which he reposted with a Canadian flag and the words “this is real.”
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this → single → flag
“The idea that cruelty is the base — that being cruel and unkind is part of the fun of all of this,” Clooney, a longtime Democratic supporter, told reporters.
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Clooney → tell → reporters
“You see what the secretary of defense just tweeted out a picture about women in the military in Canada, and you’re going, ‘What’s wrong with you?
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you → see → you
Where’s the sense of decency in all of this?’”
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sense → ’ → this
Clooney and the Trump administration have also traded comments in recent months.
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Clooney → trade → months
Back in April, Clooney said Trump was committing a war crime over his threat to Iran that a “whole civilization will die tonight.”
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civilization → say → Iran
“The only person committing war crimes is George Clooney for his awful movies and terrible acting ability,” White House communications director Steven Cheung responded on X.
Trump also took a dig at Clooney after he was granted French citizenship.
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he → commit → citizenship
George and Amal Clooney, two of the worst political prognosticators of all time, have officially become citizens of France,” Trump wrote to Truth Social.
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Trump → become → Social
Carney tells U.S. officials to get serious
Carney, meanwhile, said there is still a “positive opportunity” for a trade deal but accused U.S. officials of taunting Canada and its military.
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Carney → tell → Canada
…and 9 more, not listed.
The Aporia
