U.S. President Donald Trump says his administration is giving “serious consideration” to renaming Lake Ontario “Lake America” as tensions between the United States and Canada continue to escalate.
Trump made the comments Tuesday, August 25, in a post on Truth Social, directly linking the potential name change to deteriorating economic relations with Ontario.
“The United States is giving serious consideration to changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America in that we don’t expect to [be] doing much business with Ontario any longer,” Trump wrote.
The comments come amid a rapidly worsening trade dispute between Washington and Ottawa. The Trump administration recently imposed 50 per cent tariffs on roughly $20 billion worth of Canadian goods after trade negotiations between the two countries broke down, according to the Associated Press.
Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, is particularly exposed to a prolonged trade conflict because of its large manufacturing and automotive industries and deeply integrated supply chains with the United States.
Trump has also threatened additional tariffs targeting Canadian vehicles, auto parts and steel.
The dispute has become increasingly personal. Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Trump have exchanged sharp criticism in recent days, while Prime Minister Mark Carney has accused Washington of attempting to undermine major Canadian industries.
Canada is preparing retaliatory measures of its own. Carney has said Canadian counter-tariffs are expected to take effect September 8.
Trump’s Lake Ontario comments follow his previous decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” for use by the U.S. federal government. Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to adopt that name shortly after beginning his second term.
However, Lake Ontario is an international body of water shared between Canada and the United States. Ontario lies along its northern and western shores, while New York State borders it to the south and east. A decision by the U.S. government to use “Lake America” would not by itself require Canada to adopt the same name.
Global News reported Tuesday morning that Trump described the proposed change as being under “serious consideration,” rather than announcing that a formal renaming process had already begun.
The proposal is the latest sign of how dramatically relations between the longtime allies have deteriorated as tariff threats, retaliatory measures and increasingly hostile rhetoric dominate Canada-U.S. relations.
