With trade tensions rising, President Donald Trump floated renaming Lake Ontario to "Lake America," posting Tuesday on Truth Social that the United States was "giving serious consideration" because it did not expect to do much business with Ontario. The proposal came hours before Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced retaliatory tariffs on about $20 billion of U.S. goods, after the U.S. imposed 50 percent tariffs on $20 billion of Canadian exports over the weekend. Canadians and Ontario residents quickly rejected the idea; Patricia Wiseman, an Ontario resident, told AP "He can blow out his hole as much as he wants to, but it’s never going to happen." The White House later posted a toy Lego map labeling the Gulf of Mexico "Gulf of America," echoing a previous Trump renaming move and underscoring how rhetoric has deepened the rift with Ottawa. Experts note the U.S. can change how it labels geographic features domestically but cannot force Canada or cross-border mariners to use a new name, leaving any practical effect limited while diplomatic and tariff disputes continue.
