Trump Floats ‘Lake America’ Rename as US-Canada Trade Tensions Deepen

U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that his administration is considering renaming Lake Ontario as “Lake America,” as tensions between the United States and Canada escalate following the collapse of bilateral trade negotiations.

Trump said on Truth Social that Washington was giving “serious consideration” to the name change because the U.S. does not expect to conduct much business with Ontario. Lake Ontario, one of North America’s five Great Lakes, is shared by the Canadian province of Ontario and New York state.

Canadian Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc dismissed the remarks, saying Ottawa had decided months ago not to respond to daily social media statements from Trump or members of his administration.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford also characterized Trump’s comments as rhetoric, emphasizing the importance of Canada-U.S. trade. Ford noted that Canada is the largest customer for 17 U.S. states and the second-largest for another 12, while Ontario alone would rank among the world’s biggest U.S. trading partners.

Trump’s proposed Lake Ontario name change follows his January 2025 executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.”

The comments came days after U.S.-Canada trade talks broke down following three days of negotiations, with both governments blaming each other for the failure.

Trump separately rejected claims that disputes over French-language protections contributed to the collapse. He said he would never interfere with Canadians speaking French and accused Prime Minister Mark Carney of misrepresenting the issue to gain political support in Quebec.

Carney said Monday that negotiations deteriorated after U.S. officials proposed measures that could threaten Canadian French-language requirements. Washington has pushed Canada to reverse rules requiring streaming service providers to prioritize French-language content in Quebec. The U.S. Trade Representative also identified the requirements as a trade barrier in its 2026 National Trade Estimate report.

French and English have equal official status under Canada’s Constitution. In predominantly French-speaking Quebec, Trump remains deeply unpopular, with an August Angus Reid poll showing only 10% of respondents holding a favorable view of the U.S. president.