Trump orders US to rename Lake Ontario ‘Lake America’ amid Canada trade dispute

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Thursday he is renaming Lake Ontario to be known as “Lake America” in the United States as he escalates his trade war with Canada.

The Republican president signed an executive order directing the Interior Department to update the lake’s name in the U.S. geographic naming service.

Trump cannot force Canada to follow his preferred naming convention, however.

Trump has been floating the idea of the name change in recent days as the U.S. announced it was imposing 50% tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods over the weekend after talks between the countries broke down.

Trump has been needling America’s northern neighbor since he returned to the White House last year, suggesting the ally with whom the U.S. once had warm relations should instead be absorbed as the 51st state.

Canada responded to Trump’s import taxes this week by imposing retaliatory tariffs on $20 billion worth of American goods, including steel, dairy products, appliances and farm equipment.

Trump, who signed the order as he was sitting at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, had a large sign behind him propped on a stand with a map of the Great Lakes. Over Lake Ontario, in big red letters, the map read “Lake America.”

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney rejected the move, citing the lake’s Indigenous roots and its long-established name, which predates both Canadian Confederation and US independence.

“Canadians also know that naming things accurately means calling it Lake Ontario, in the past, present and future,”

Carney said.

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston dismissed Trump’s move in a social media post, writing: “We’re into some real foolishness now. It’s Lake Ontario, buddy.”

The move is reminiscent of his move last year to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.”

He also suggested his push to rename bodies of water may not be finished.

“So, if you think about it, we have a gulf and we have a lake. Now, all we need is an ocean,” Trump said.

“So maybe we’ll have to change the name of the Atlantic and/or the Pacific. Maybe we’ll change them.”

Trump has repeatedly taunted Canada since returning to the White House last year, at times suggesting that the US ally should become America’s 51st state.

The post Trump orders US to rename Lake Ontario ‘Lake America’ amid Canada trade dispute appeared first on Khaosod English.