Trump Renames Lake Ontario Lake America — SkimNews
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- Trump signed an executive order Thursday renaming Lake Ontario as "Lake America" on US federal maps, documents and databases, though the order cannot bind Canada, international mapmakers, or the lake's Canadian portion.
- Mark Carney publicly rejected the renaming, noting "Ontario" derives from the Indigenous Wendat people and predates both the Canadian Confederation and the US Declaration of Independence, declaring the lake's name will remain "then, now and always."
- US Great Lakes governors Kathy Hochul (NY), Gretchen Whitmer (MI) and Tony Evers (WI) all dismissed the order, with Evers sharing a video mockingly renaming Lake Michigan "Lake Wisconsin" on a restaurant napkin.
- Trump said the renaming is something he had considered "for a long time" and joked that after a gulf and a lake, "all we need is an ocean," floating renaming the Atlantic and Pacific too.
- The trade backdrop includes a 50% US tariff on Canadian imports and a threatened additional 50% duties on Canadian steel, trucks, cars and auto parts set for the new year, with Canada retaliating with 25–50% tariffs on hundreds of US goods.
- Trump cited a $60bn US trade deficit with Canada, though economists note this is driven almost entirely by US oil imports; he also claimed a 400% tariff on American farmers, even though roughly 97% of US agricultural exports to Canada enter duty-free under USMCA.
Why it matters: The renaming has zero legal force outside US borders but signals escalation in the bilateral rift already marked by 50% tariffs and threatened 50% duties on Canadian steel, trucks and autos starting in the new year — with Canada retaliating 25–50%. Trump's claim of a $60bn deficit is also contested by economists, who attribute nearly all of it to US oil imports, not unfair Canadian practices.
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