President Trump is again taking aim at a major geographic name, this time suggesting Lake Ontario could be renamed “Lake America” as tensions escalate with Canada’s most populous province, whose premier has warned he could restrict electricity and mineral exports to the United States.
“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,” Trump wrote Tuesday on Truth Social.
The remark echoes one of Trump’s earliest moves after returning to the White House last year, when he signed an executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America — a change he repeatedly highlighted throughout his first year back in office.
His latest naming threat targets Lake Ontario, which stretches along upstate New York, and comes as Washington and Ottawa are locked in a deepening tariff dispute.
Negotiations between the two countries collapsed last week, intensifying an already strained trade relationship.
In response, Trump moved to slap a 50% tariff on a broad list of Canadian imports, including beer, cheese, electronics and other goods.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has promised matching retaliation, while Ontario Premier Doug Ford — a frequent advocate of a tougher trade stance — has signaled that his province is prepared to hit back economically.
Ford told the Associated Press that “everything is on the table” if the dispute deteriorates further, raising the possibility of cutting off Ontario’s electricity and critical minerals to the US.
“We power 1.5 million homes and businesses,” the premier said. “Everything’s on the table. I’ll do whatever it takes.”
One of the issues Carney claimed caused the breakdown in talks at the 11th hour last week was purported demands that Canada make changes, demanding Quebec use English instead of French. Trump denied that on Monday.
“I would never interfere with Canadians speaking French!” Trump insisted on Truth Social. “In fact, I have never even thought of doing such a stupid thing. This lie was made up by a weak and ineffective Prime Minister in an attempt to gain political support, which he has totally lost, from the people of Quebec. “I love French Canadians!”
