Trump threatens to rename Lake Ontario 'Lake America' as trade feud heats up

## Trump threatens to rename Lake Ontario 'Lake America' as trade feud heats up

[Amy van den Berg(external link)](https://www.cbc.ca/author/amy-van-den-berg-9.14620) \| CBC News \| Posted: August 25, 2026 12:35 PM \| Last Updated: August 25

Social media post follows tense day between president and Ontario Premier Doug Ford

Media \| Trump posts the U.S. may change the name of Lake Ontario to 'Lake America'

Caption: U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening to rename Lake Ontario to "Lake America," according to a Truth Social post on Tuesday. CBC's Clara Pasieka breaks down what you need to know.

[Open full embed in new tab (external link)](https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/9.7319868) Loading external pages may require significantly more data usage than loading CBC Lite story pages.

U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening to rename Lake Ontario to "Lake America," according to a social media post Tuesday morning.

"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. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" reads the president's post on Truth Social.

The post follows a day of tension amid a breakdown in Canada-U.S. trade talks, where Ontario Premier Doug Ford [told the president he could "kiss my ass"](https://www.cbc.ca/lite/story/9.7318104) and Trump referred to the premier as "Flunky Ford."

- [Ottawa's counter-tariffs find broad support in Canada as businesses brace for trade war impact](https://www.cbc.ca/lite/story/9.7317956)

Ford's initial comments aired on Toronto radio station Newstalk 1010 Monday in response to the new tariffs. He later doubled down in a news conference in Hamilton, Ont. During the conference Ford also said that "everything is on the table" when it comes to retaliation measures.

On Monday afternoon, Trump posted to Truth Social referring to Ford's commentary as "bluster" and referred to both Ford and Carney as "clowns" and bad leaders.

_**WATCH \| Industry Minister Mélanie Joly reacts to Lake Ontario name change threat:**_

Media Video \| Politics News :

Caption: Asked about U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to rename Lake Ontario 'Lake America,' Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said Canada will 'be smart' and 'fight back' as 'all these shenanigans are happening.'

[Open full embed in new tab (external link)](https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/9.7319749) Loading external pages may require significantly more data usage than loading CBC Lite story pages.

Trade negotiations between Canada and the United States [fell apart last week](https://www.cbc.ca/lite/story/9.7318903), which Prime Minister Mark Carney said was due to the Trump administration introducing unacceptable measures, including restrictions on Canada's ability to sign deals with other countries.

On Saturday, 50 per cent U.S. tariffs on about $28 billion worth of Canadians goods came into effect. Prime Minister Mark Carney said retaliatory, dollar-for-dollar tariffs will hit the U.S. Sept. 8.

## Ford changes tune, calls for return to bargaining table

When asked on CNN Tuesday if it was time to bring the temperature down on the back-and-forth with President Trump, Ford said that would be a good idea.

"Things got a little heated. It got a little personal yesterday between the president and myself," Ford told host Wolf Blitzer. "It's time to get back to the table. Let's negotiate a fair deal, because it's hurting the U.S., it's hurting Canada."

- [American tariffs on Canadian goods take effect after trade talks fall apart](https://www.cbc.ca/lite/story/9.7311417)

- [One of Trump's top deputies has been unsatisfied with trade deal on the table for Canada, sources say](https://www.cbc.ca/lite/story/9.7314835)

Ford said Canada is the number one trading partner with the U.S. and he is concerned for Americans who are seeing the cost of goods rise. He called for both countries to come together to build "Fortress North America," saying Canadians love American people — something he repeated in a following interview with Fox News.

"When President Trump wants to attack our sovereignty and attack our businesses and people in Ontario, I can't roll over," he said on CNN. "My job is to protect Ontario and Canada and, ironically, protect the American people."

## 'Like dealing with a 4-year-old': political strategist

Jaime Watt, political strategist and executive chairman of PR firm Navigator, says he is surprised it took President Trump this long to threaten the name change.

"He's got a very limited playbook. He's got about four things he does, and he repeats them over again," Watt told CBC Radio's _Metro Morning_ Tuesday. "First it was [the Gulf of Mexico](https://www.cbc.ca/lite/story/1.7444240), now it's Lake Ontario. It's like trying to deal with a four-year-old having a temper tantrum."

Watt said Trump has done what many other politicians haven't been able to do, which is unite the country, but his approach cannot go on.

"You can't let the schoolyard bully continue to take your lunch. You've got to put your foot down," he said.

To that effect, Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish fired back against Trump in a post to social media platform X Tuesday.

"Dear Mr. Trump: Since the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation established their homes close to and along the shores of this lake, it has been our lifeblood," she said. "I, and everyone in Mississauga, am proud to be living along the shores of LAKE ONTARIO. We will defend its good name!"

_**WATCH \| Fact-checking Trump administration's statements about Canada:**_

Media Video \| The National :

Caption: As the trade war intensifies, the Trump administration has been making a lot of claims about Canada and its economy that don’t stack up. For The National, Erica Johnson asks CBC senior business correspondent Peter Armstrong to sort through the facts.

[Open full embed in new tab (external link)](https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/9.7319885) Loading external pages may require significantly more data usage than loading CBC Lite story pages.

## Lake name carries significance, history expert says

Mary Baxter, a PhD candidate at Western University and expert in the history of the Great Lakes, says there is a real possibility of this threat becoming reality in some form. She points to January 2025, when Trump renamed the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America in one of his first executive orders after his inauguration.

"With this president we have seen that he has announced certain intentions and he's followed through with them," she said.

Since Canada and the U.S. split the lake jurisdictionally, Baxter says each country is free to name shared geographic features what it wants, though how the lake is internationally recognized would come down to politics and preference. She says changes to digital platforms like American-owned Google Maps could be more immediate, should the move go through.

Image \| Lake Ontario canoe photo

Caption: Lake Ontario has carried its name since before the American Revolution, according to Mary Baxter, a PhD candidate at Western University and expert in the history of the Great Lakes (Valerie Macon/AFP/Getty Images)

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This, Baxter says, would be a shame. She says Lake Ontario has carried this name since before the American Revolution.

"Often we don't know what's important to us until we are at the verge of having it taken away," she says. "When you think of a name that has stuck for so long, like Lake Ontario, I would think that it's important not only to Ontarians, but certainly for the First Nations who still make their homes around its waters."

Several people interviewed by CBC News near Lake Ontario in Toronto's east end Tuesday described the comments as nonsensical.

"I just think \[Trump\] is running out of things to say. He did that a long time ago with the Gulf of Mexico so he's kind of repeating himself. For a long time I've been saying, 'Why does anyone listen?'" said Gillian Hegge.

Sean Fennell said the comments resemble Trump's typical tactic of "pushing buttons."

"There's a little bit of levity... but you can't take this guy seriously," he said.

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