“If THE Frodo Baggins says this, it is true”: Internet reacts as Elijah Wood speaks up amid Lake Ontario and Lake America controversy 

Elijah Wood is having quite the week online. The actor, best known for playing Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, weighed in on the ongoing Lake Ontario controversy after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order seeking to rename the lake to Lake America. As per a report shared by BBC, the move followed the collapse of trade talks between the US and Canada, with the US imposing new 50% tariffs on $20bn worth of Canadian goods. Canada announced "dollar for dollar" counter-tariffs would follow next month.

Wood kept it short on X.

"It's called Lake Ontario," he shared.

That was enough. Fans on social media ran with it almost immediately, with one user on Threads declaring,

"If THE Frodo Baggins says this, it is true," they added.

Wood, forty-five, first became a household name in the early 2000s. His portrayal of Frodo Baggins turned him into both a Hollywood staple and an unlikely internet icon. Post The Lord of the Rings, he went on to appear in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, among several other notable projects.

Elijah Wood's Lake Ontario post draws mixed reactions online:

Not everybody was cheering Wood on, though. One user on X fired back, sharing that,

"Ok Frodo. You can keep calling it whatever you want. Every other civilization has conquered and named things, or claimed it. Our turn."

"It's called Lake Trump," shared another.

Memes started making the rounds as well, as others kept weighing in. One user took issue with Elijah Wood speaking on politics at all.

"You are an actor. You have no say in anything other than acting. This is pandering to the lowest IQ people who take things way to literally for a thing that's will Only be recognized in the states. Stick to your lane stage boy," they shared.

Another user didn't see what all the fuss was about, sharing that

"Nobody cares. It's dumb and it means nothing. Are you so simple that this offends you? But I guarantee if Obama renamed it Lake America you would be ok with it. I will always call it Lake Ontario," they shared.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford responds to Trump with a Lake Ontario shoreline sign amid Elijah Wood's viral post:

Elijah Wood wasn't the only one making his position clear. As per a report shared by BBC, Ontario Premier Doug Ford hit back at Donald Trump by installing a large sign on Canada's shoreline reading "Lake Ontario. Now and Always." Ford was direct about where he stood, sharing that

"Long before President Trump, this lake was called Lake Ontario. Long after President Trump is gone, it will still be called Lake Ontario,"

Standing in front of the newly unveiled sign, Ford went further, adding that

"Just in case President Trump or anyone else forgets, we've set up this sign to remind them, it's Lake Ontario, now and forever,"

Ford also shared his thoughts on why Trump had pushed for the renaming in the first place, saying it was because Trump "didn't like Ontario and Canada standing up for ourselves." It wasn't just Ford, either. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney had previously weighed in on the row, insisting that

"things must be called by their name, and this lake is called Lake Ontario, today and forever,"

On Saturday, Trump posted several AI-generated videos on social media. One showed him kicking over a Lake Ontario sign and replacing it with one reading

"Welcome to Lake America."

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Before the Lake Ontario debate, Wood had been generating buzz for an entirely different reason. The Hunt for Gollum, the next Lord of the Rings film, is due in 2027, and reports have been swirling around its casting. Wood himself hasn't confirmed anything about his own return. That being said, he has been vocal about one particular thing, telling The Sunday Times that

"I certainly wouldn't want anybody else to play Frodo as long as I'm alive and able."

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