Aerial view of Lake Ontario in a file photo. Shutterstock/94Mark
U.S. President Donald Trump says his country is giving “serious consideration” to changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America amid a war of words with Ontario Premier Doug Ford.
Trump took to Truth Social on Aug. 25 to announce he is thinking about changing the lake’s name because he doesn’t foresee conducting “much business with Ontario any longer.” Trump also posted a picture of a map with the name Lake Ontario crossed out and replaced with “Lake America.”
In a separate post, he said Canada has been “ripping off” the United States for decades, and has easily been “the most difficult and unreasonable” country to deal with in trade talks.
Canadian Industry Minister Mélanie Joly addressed Trump’s posts during an unrelated Aug. 25 press conference to announce Ottawa’s counter-tariffs against the United States.
“We’ll always call it Lake Ontario, period,” Joly said, describing the lake as a part of the “foundation of this country” that Canadians are “proud of.”
“While all of these shenanigans are happening, we’ll just be smart and we’ll be strategic, and we’ll fight back,” she added.
Negotiations between Canada and the United States broke down on Aug. 21, leading to new 50 percent U.S. tariffs on nearly CA$28 billion (US$20 billion) of Canadian products taking effect on Aug. 22. Canada has said it will retaliate with counter-tariffs beginning Sept. 8.
Trump also announced on Aug. 24 his plan to impose new 50 percent tariffs on all Canadian vehicles beginning in 2027.
The U.S. president’s post about changing the name of Lake Ontario followed a public exchange of insults with Ford, who used profane language in one comment about Trump. He also called him a “dictator” and a “loser,” and threatened to disconnect the electricity supply to Ontario’s American customers, as well as cut off critical minerals supply. Trump responded on Truth Social by calling Ford a “flunky” and the “less charismatic, intelligent, and overall unimpressive brother” of late former Toronto Mayor Rob Ford.
During an Aug. 25 CNN interview regarding Trump’s recent statements about Canada, Ford said it would be beneficial for Canada and the United States to lower the temperature of rhetoric, adding that “things got heated, got a little personal yesterday between the president and myself.” He said he wanted to see the two countries negotiate a “fair” deal.
Trump has renamed or proposed renaming several waterways since his second term began in 2025. In January 2025, he issued an executive order for all U.S. agencies to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
Amid the conflict between the United States and Iran, Trump has proposed that Washington could eventually manage and levy tolls on the Strait of Hormuz waterway, which Iran has sought to entirely block and halt oil tankers from leaving.
