President Considers Renaming Half-Canadian Lake 'Lake America' Because Trade With Canada Is Going Poorly

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the United States is giving serious consideration to renaming Lake Ontario “Lake America,” a step that would place the shared body of water entirely on our side of the argument without requiring it to move.

The lake sits between New York and Ontario, with the international border running through the water. Its northern shore includes Toronto. The president tied the proposed name directly to the trade dispute, explaining that the United States does not expect to do much business with Ontario any longer. If commerce no longer crosses the lake, the reasoning suggests, neither should the name.

The proposal arrived hours before Canada announced retaliatory tariffs on about $20 billion in American goods, including steel, dairy products, appliances, clothing, seafood, and farm equipment. Those measures answer the 50 percent tariffs Washington imposed on Canadian goods over the weekend. The two countries are now taxing products that move through supply chains built over generations while discussing which one deserves the lake between them.

Federal naming policy can change how the United States government refers to a geographic feature. It cannot require Canada, mapmakers, or the people living on either shore to follow along. Under the plan, Lake America could therefore meet Lake Ontario at the border, creating two national bodies of water that remain inconveniently attached.

There is precedent. The president renamed the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America for federal use in 2025, proving that a government can secure a decisive cartographic victory without altering the coastline. Lake Ontario may now receive the same treatment. The water will continue touching Canada, but the paperwork will know where it stands.