Trump weighs renaming Lake Ontario to 'Lake America' amid escalating trade war

US President Donald Trump has expressed interest in renaming Lake Ontario to "Lake America" due to escalating trade tensions with Canada. In a series of Truth Social posts, Trump wrote that the US is "giving serious consideration" to changing the name as they anticipate reduced business with Ontario. An accompanying image on X/Twitter featured a map with "Lake Ontario" crossed out and "Lake America" spelled out in gold letters.

Trump has been actively criticizing Canada, alleging that it has been "ripping off the US for decades" through excessive tariffs on US farmers, driving companies out of business, and resulting in an annual loss of $60 billion for the US. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been engaged in ongoing tariff disputes with the US, which have strained the longstanding relationship between the two nations.

In response to Trump's latest duties, Canada imposed retaliatory tariffs on approximately $20 billion worth of US imports, set to take effect on September 8. The tariffs are imposed at a rate of up to 50% on around 700 American products, while Trump's own tariffs on Canadian imports went into effect on Saturday following failed negotiations.

The Lake Ontario, located on the Canada-United States border and composed of 53% Canadian territory, is the smallest and easternmost of the Great Lakes. The White House has previously published a map with the proposed names for both Lake America and the Gulf of America. Canada's Minister for Canada-US Trade Dominic LeBlanc stated that the government has decided not to respond to the president's and his Cabinet secretaries' daily social media posts, focusing instead on economic growth and maintaining a constructive relationship with the US.