Moscrop also details Lake Ontario renaming, Hegseth post, Rogan critique
A Monday Guardian opinion column by Canadian political commentator David Moscrop reported that Canada and the European Union are considering an “associate status” arrangement that would formalize a partnership short of full EU membership for Canada, described by Moscrop as “the decidedly not European country.” The column’s accompanying photograph shows Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney with European Parliament president Roberta Metsola and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen in Strasbourg, France, on September 16, 2026.
Moscrop detailed several other administration actions in the same column. During a trade dispute with Canada and feeling insulted by Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Trump decided to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America” and shared memes showcasing the renamed body of water, Moscrop reported. The lake “remains Lake Ontario outside US borders (and inside it, for some states, such as New York),” Moscrop wrote. The Strait of Hormuz and New Mexico have also been put on notice for a potential name change, according to Moscrop.
After the renaming, Moscrop wrote, “Not to be outdone, the US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, posted an attack against a Canadian cadet and her instructor, mocking them and the Canadian armed forces.”
There are signs that Trump’s stunts, Moscrop wrote, are “trying the patience of some clowns within the Republican circus tent.” Podcaster Joe Rogan, typically a “rightwing darling,” said the renaming “doesn’t make any sense” and was meant to distract Americans “from the fact that we’re in a war that we can’t win in Iran,” Moscrop reported.
Moscrop also cited a UN announcement that the world has “frittered away our best chance of avoiding the worst effects of climate change,” Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s description of his high-protein breakfast as “a cheeseburger and three eggs,” and Food and Drug Administration food recalls over salmonella contamination. Moscrop characterized the administration’s behavior using terms including “stupidities,” “depravities,” and “sadism.”
On the Canada-EU development, Trump responded by declaring that the United States would consider a new Canada-EU relationship a “hostile act” and threatened to cut off trade with Europe, Moscrop reported. Moscrop described the reaction as “a masterclass in proving the wrong point.”
Earlier this month, Carney publicly implored the Trump administration to stop “doing memes” and “throwing shade” and to engage seriously with trade talks, Moscrop reported. Trump responded by complaining that Canada was the “worst country to deal with” while also claiming its leaders are “dying to make a deal,” Moscrop wrote. “The inconsistency, as obvious as it is daft, betrays that for all the administration’s bluster, the Trump team wants – and needs – a deal, even if its negotiation tactics are beyond baffling,” Moscrop wrote.