President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to rename Lake Ontario, the body of water between Canada and New York, “Lake America” after collapsed negotiations over the weekend sparked an escalating trade war between the two historic allies.
Trump, in a post to Truth Social, said Tuesday that the name change was under “serious consideration” because the United States didn’t expect to be “doing much business with Ontario any longer.”
The Trump administration and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney began sparring late Friday night over who was to blame for the failed talks, which triggered a 50% U.S. tariff on some Canadian goods such as knitted sweaters and honey. Economists and business leaders have warned that sweeping tariffs raise prices for consumers.
Carney said he suspended negotiations after Washington introduced last-minute proposals that were “unfair, uneconomic and called into question the reliability of the deal.” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer argued that Canada disrupted progress on the deal and was “continuing to maintain its prolonged retaliation against the United States.”
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Canada will impose retaliatory tariffs beginning Sept. 8, the details of which have yet to be revealed.
“You’re at war when you’re attacked,” Carney told reporters Saturday. “We were attacked.”
Lake Ontario, the smallest of the Great Lakes, obtained its name from the Huron word Ontarí’io, which means “great lake” or “beautiful water.”
The body of water serves as a key shipping route that connects the rest of the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean via major port cities like Toronto and Rochester, New York.
The potential name change is just the latest example of Trump clashing with allies since his return to office, oftentimes arguing that foreign governments are conducting unfair economic practices as justification for his aggressive tariff policy.
He’s also pursued symbolic name changes as a show of force.
Trump signed an executive order on his first day of office to rename the Gulf of Mexico, which borders the U.S., Mexico and Cuba, the “Gulf of America.” The action resulted in a frantic rollout process under administration pressure. The abrupt change also vexed Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, whose administration sued Google for changing the name on its mapping software.
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