President Donald Trump's move to rename Lake Ontario as "Lake America" is making waves far beyond the Great Lakes, adding a new flashpoint to an increasingly bitter U.S.-Canada feud.
Within hours of Trump's Aug. 27 executive order
, politicians, celebrities, brands and social media users on both sides of the border weighed in, turning the 400-year-old lake into one of the internet's hottest debates.The order, which directs federal officials to formalize the name change within 30 days, quickly sparked backlash, jokes and parody proposals. While Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney defended Lake Ontario's historic name, others responded with memes and mock renamings of their own, including Canadian radio personality Dean Blundell, who jokingly suggested
rebranding Lake Michigan as "Lake Epstein" and the St. Lawrence Seaway as the "Straight of Ontario."
Social media reacts to 'Lake America'
The proposal prompted reactions from politicians, celebrities and even mapping companies, with many criticizing or mocking the idea while others debated the history behind the lake's name.
Online mapping service MapQuest joined the conversation by inviting users to rename the lake themselves.
"We're not changing the name of Lake Ontario. Name it whatever you want at your leisure," the company posted on X.
Author Stephen King, a frequent Trump critic, dismissed the proposal in a blunt post on X, writing: "Also f--- your LakeAmerica. This is Twitter and that lake is Ontario."
"It's Lake Ontario," Hillary Clinton, former Secretary of State and Trump's opponent in the 2016 presidential election, said in an X post.
"This will be an unpopular opinion on the Right but I think this is kind of dumb, even as a troll," said right-wing political commentator Matt Walsh on X. "Lake Ontario was given that name on maps by European explorers long before the Canadian province of Ontario was named. There are several cities in America called Ontario – at least one of them predating the Canadian province by like 100 years – because the word originates with native tribes in North America. It's not a Canadian invention."
User @greg16676935420 joked that Trump would soon propose to rename the continents.
Since returning to office last year, Trump has tried to affix his name to the Kennedy Center, a planned class of Navy warships, a visa program for wealthy foreigners, agovernment-run prescription drug website, and federal savings accounts for children.
Trump also ordered the Gulf of Mexico renamed to Gulf of America in January 2025.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll in May showed 72% of Americans had a favorable view of Canada – a higher share than any other country in the survey had, including Germany and Mexico – and about twice Trump's own approval rating.
Reuters contributed to the reporting of this story.
Gabe Hauari is a national trending news reporter at USA TODAY. You can follow him on X @GabeHauari or email him at Gdhauari@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Lake America'? Trump's move ignites meme storm.
