President Donald Trump has threatened to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America” amid his escalating tariffs war with Canada.
“The United States is giving serious consideration to changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America in that we don’t expect to doing much business with Ontario any longer,” the president wrote on Truth Social Tuesday morning. “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
One of five Great Lakes, Lake Ontario straddles the border between the U.S. and Canada. It is bounded to the north by the province of Ontario and to the south by New York state. Its name comes from the Huron word “Ontarí’io,” which means “beautiful water.” The Huron, or Wendat, are a people indigenous to Ontario.
“We’ll always call it Lake Ontario. Period,” Minister of Industry of Canada Mélanie Joly said during a press conference on Tuesday. “While all these shenanigans are happening, we’ll just be smart, we’ll be strategic, and we’ll fight back.”
Trump, a former real estate mogul with an eye for branding, has previously taken an interest in renaming prominent geographical features. Last year, he rebranded the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America and restored Alaska’s Denali — a name derived from the Koyukon indigenous language — to its former name, Mount McKinley.
The president’s remarks capped a tumultuous week in U.S.-Canada relations, marked by the collapse of trade negotiations, the imposition of steep tariffs on Ottawa and a bitter exchange with Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who called Trump a “dictator.”
On Saturday, the U.S. imposed a 50 percent tariff on about $20 billion of Canadian imports after last-minute talks between the two neighbors broke down. The levies apply to a range of goods, from wine to hockey sticks to honey.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney liked the measure to armed conflict, telling reporters on Saturday: “You’re at war when you get attacked. We got attacked.”
He said Canada would respond with “dollar for dollar” retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods, beginning September 8. The specific tariffs are expected to be unveiled on Tuesday.
The U.S. is Canada’s largest trading partner, receiving the overwhelming majority of the country’s exports.
Trump escalated the trade war Monday, announcing yet another round of tariffs on Canada.
“On January First, 2027, Tariffs on all Cars, Trucks, both large and small, Automotive Parts, and Steel, will be increased to 50%,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Build in the U.S. and there are ZERO TARIFFS.”
Recent polling suggests Trump’s tariff regime — parts of which were struck down by the Supreme Court earlier this year — is unpopular with Americans. In a February Pew Research Center survey, 60 percent of Americans said they disapproved of Trump’s steep tariff increases.
Also Monday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford unleashed a barrage of criticism against Trump. At a press conference, Ford called the Republican president a “bully,” a “dictator” and “the king of bankruptcies.” He also told Trump to “kiss my a**,” and accused him of “taxing his own people.”
Trump had earlier labeled Ford — the brother of the late, scandal-hit Toronto Mayor Rob Ford — a blustering “flunky” who is “less charismatic” than his brother.
In addition to pursuing hostile trade policies toward Canada, President Trump has repeatedly called for the country to become the “51st state,” further straining relations with the longtime ally.
Vice President JD Vance echoed the sentiment Monday during a speech in Maine, telling the crowd, “We have to remember Canada is a state — sorry, Freudian slip.”
