US President Donald Trump has shared a video in which he proposes changing the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America”, amid escalating trade tensions between the United States and Canada.
“So this is Lake
Ontario in Canada and in the United States. But we’re going to make a little change. We’re going to call it Lake America. And all it takes is a good pen and some intelligence. So Lake Ontario, that’s gone. Lake America,” Trump says in the video.
Trump had earlier said on Truth Social that the United States was giving “serious consideration” to changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America, arguing that Washington did not expect to do much business with Ontario any longer.
Trump on his TikTok account:
—“So this is Lake Ontario in Canada and in the United States. But we’re going to make a little change. We’re going to call it Lake America. And all it takes is a good pen and some intelligence. So Lake Ontario, that’s gone. Lake America.” pic.twitter.com/y5EX6LO0J8
— Orla Joelsen (@OJoelsen) August 27, 2026
Lake Ontario is one of North America’s five Great Lakes and borders both the Canadian province of Ontario and the US state of New York. The proposed name change comes as trade tensions between Washington and Ottawa have intensified.
Lake Name Proposal Comes Amid Trade Dispute
The proposal came as the United States and Canada remained locked in an extended trade dispute. The Trump administration has imposed tariffs on Canadian goods, while Canada has been preparing retaliatory measures.
Trump’s latest branding proposal also echoes his earlier push to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America”. The Lake Ontario proposal, however, concerns a body of water shared by the United States and Canada.
The idea has drawn criticism and dismissal from Canadians, with the proposal adding another layer to the increasingly tense relationship between Washington and Ottawa.
