President Trump on Tuesday said he wants to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America,” opening a new front in the trade war with Canada.
Mr. Trump’s proposal deepened his war of words with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and, if carried out, would mirror his contentious renaming of the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America at the start of his second term.
“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,” Mr. Trump said on social media.
Lake Ontario, one of the five Great Lakes, is located between the state of New York and the Canadian province from which it takes its name. Cities such as Toronto and Rochester sit on the large body of water.
Mr. Trump proposed the name change after imposing 50% tariffs on about $20 billion worth of Canadian goods on Saturday. He carried out his tariff threat after trade talks with Canada collapsed.
Canadian officials said the U.S. made unacceptable demands and vowed to retaliate with “dollar-for-dollar” tariffs on American products, starting Sept. 8.
Mr. Carney said talks broke down in part because the U.S. side wanted to threaten French-language protections, including a streaming-content rule requiring American platforms like Netflix to promote French and Canadian content.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer rejected the claim, calling it a “funny fake story.”
The Trump administration often balks at attempts by other countries to impose taxes on U.S. tech companies, or laws that require the companies to behave a certain way.
“I would never interfere with Canadians speaking French! In fact, I have never even thought of doing such a stupid thing,” Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social. “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!”
Trade tensions between the U.S. and Canada have simmered since the start of Mr. Trump’s second term.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau paid a special visit to Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in South Florida following Mr. Trump’s election in late 2024 to thwart a tariff threat. But Mr. Trump still wielded levies against Canada over fentanyl trafficking and immigration and threatened to make Canada the 51st state.
Many Canadian provinces played hardball by refusing to sell U.S. liquor, angering the Trump administration.
While the Supreme Court struck down Mr. Trump’s use of a 1977 law to impose unilateral tariffs on other nations, the ruling did not affect U.S. tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum, cars and light trucks, leaving trade tensions at a simmer.
Those tensions boiled over when Mr. Trump threatened 50% tariffs on a range of Canadian goods, from cars to hockey sticks and cement, in response to Canadian treatment of U.S. products such as alcohol, autos and dairy that the administration considered discriminatory and unfair.
Mr. Trump went forward with the tariffs after weekend talks fell apart at the 11th hour. Mr. Carney pointed to “unacceptable” demands from the U.S. side.
Both governments are digging in.
“Your own people, President Trump, don’t even like you. They’re gonna speak loud and clear when it comes to the midterms,” Mr. Ford said during a recent event in Hamilton, Ontario. “I have a lot of real estate on my a—, so he has a lot of room to kiss my a—.”
Mr. Trump said Mr. Ford was full of bluster and that Canadian officials should be careful.
“The U.S.A. will always be far bigger, richer, and stronger than Canada,” Mr. Trump posted on social media. “Without the United States, Canada couldn’t survive — It’s where they get all of their money and, because of their current bad leadership, primarily Governor Carney, and his Flunky, Ford, they will not be allowed to keep taking advantage of the United States.”
Mr. Trump’s threat to rename one of the Great Lakes mirrors his Inauguration Day decision to direct the Department of the Interior to update maps and databases to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
Other countries still use the old name, and The Associated Press’ refusal to use the updated name in its reporting led to a legal standoff with the White House over press access.
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