DONALD Trump has ordered Lake Ontario to be renamed “Lake America” amid a bitter feud with Canada as a fresh trade war rages between the neighbours.
The US President signed an executive order on Thursday demanding the historic lake be known as Lake America for US federal purposes.
The US President signed an executive order on Thursday Credit: Splash
Trump has ordered Lake Ontario to be renamed “Lake America” Credit: Getty
Trump declared the change was “official, effective immediately,” as he continued his campaign to put his stamp on America’s landmarks.
The US leader told reporters at the Oval Office: “We’re going to be changing the name of Lake Ontario effective immediately to Lake America.”
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Trump claimed he had been plotting the controversial switch “for a long time”.
Yet the dramatic order only applies to US federal usage and cannot force Canada, international organisations or other bodies to ditch the lake’s 400-year-old name.
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More than half of Lake Ontario’s surface – around 52 per cent – lies in Canada.
The remainder is in New York under a 1909 treaty.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney swiftly hit back, making clear Ottawa would not bow to Trump’s renaming bid.
Carney said: “We know that America is changing. Their trading relationships, their foreign policies, their national monuments, their hydronyms.”
“Canadians also know that naming reality means calling it Lake Ontario then, now and always.”
The furious row comes as US-Canada trade talks have spectacularly collapsed, with Washington imposing new 50 per cent tariffs on around $20billion worth of Canadian goods.
Carney has vowed to retaliate “dollar for dollar”, threatening to pile fresh pressure on American exporters.
The latest salvo has plunged relations between the long-standing allies to fresh lows after three days of last-ditch negotiations ended without a deal.
Trump declared the change was ‘official, effective immediately’ Credit: Splash
Trump claimed he had been plotting the controversial switch ‘for a long time’ Credit: Splash
The lake’s name predates both Canada and the United States Credit: Getty
Trump has accused Canada of “ripping us off for a long time on trade”, while Ottawa says last-minute US demands helped torpedo the talks.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul also rejected the proposed name change, while Vermont Governor Phil Scott branded it “petty and disappointing”.
Grand Chief Pierre Picard of the Wendat Nation in Quebec accused Trump of trying to “erase our history”.
He said: “Outraged, appalled, shocked: there are no other words to express how I feel following President Trumps decision to rename Lake Ontario ‘Lake America.”
The lake’s name predates both Canada and the United States and originates from the Wendat language, meaning “the lake is beautiful, great.”
Trump has now hinted that his naming spree could stretch even further – joking that he could target the world’s oceans next.
He said: “We have a gulf and we have a lake, now all we need is an ocean, so maybe we’ll have to change the name of the Atlantic and or the Pacific. Maybe we’ll change them both.”
His latest move echoes his January 2025 order changing the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America for US federal use.
That previous decision sparked a bitter row with Mexico, while Google Maps now displays different names depending on where users are viewing the gulf.
Trump’s latest territorial naming clash comes as he repeatedly taunts Canada over becoming America’s 51st state – a proposal Canadian leaders have repeatedly dismissed.
The trade dispute has meanwhile piled fresh strain onto already bruised relations, with billions of dollars of goods crossing the border between the two countries.
Canada and the US traded around $880billion worth of goods and services last year, while almost 72 per cent of Canada’s goods exports were sold to its southern neighbour.
Despite the cross-border dispute, there was a glimmer of hope for negotiations.
Canadian trade minister Dominic LeBlanc said Washington had withdrawn some demands over French-language labelling.
He said the move created “the possibility of a mutually beneficial trade agreement that respects Canadian sovereignty”.
