It will always be Lake Ontario, Americans reject Trump’s rename

President Donald Trump's attempt to rename Lake Ontario as "Lake America" has been largely rejected by Americans living in the lake's vicinity. The US President signed an executive order on Thursday directing relevant agencies to formalize the change within 30 days, amid escalating tensions between the US and Canada. However, residents on the New York shoreline of Lake Ontario have expressed little interest in adopting the new name.

Sharee Turpin, a resident of Gates, New York, stated that she was initially amused by the proposal and that "Lake Ontario will remain Lake Ontario." Monroe County Executive Adam Bello and New York Governor Kathy Hochul also rejected the proposed name change. Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin and Republican Vermont Governor Phil Scott described Trump's move as "petty and disappointing."

Some residents near the lake considered the issue less about the name itself and more about what they deemed misplaced priorities, such as crime issues. Trump's order came after he previously renamed the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. The White House defended the Lake America decision, stating that most of the lake's volume is in the US and that the new name would reflect its "place in America and her heritage."