President Trump is considering a significant rebrand for Lake Ontario, proposing that the body of water be renamed Lake America, The Hill reported. This potential change arrives as trade tensions between the United States and Canada continue to escalate into a full trade war.
The President announced this development on Tuesday through a post on Truth Social. He stated, “The United States is giving serious consideration to changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America in that we don’t expect to doing much business with Ontario any longer.” This follows a similar move from last year. At that time, President Trump signed an executive order that officially renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
The atmosphere surrounding these trade discussions has become quite intense over the weekend. The situation took a turn when Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney decided to remove negotiators from the ongoing trade talks with the United States. This decision occurred just before a fresh set of tariffs from the Trump administration was scheduled to take effect.
The relationship between Washington and Ottawa is currently in a difficult phase
In response to the new 50 percent tariffs from the U.S. that are set to begin on September 8, Prime Minister Carney announced that Ottawa would implement its own retaliatory measures. During a press conference, the Canadian leader explained that his nation would “match Washington’s new tariffs dollar for dollar in order to protect Canadian workers, farmers, families and businesses.”
The pushback is not just coming from the federal level in Canada. Ontario Premier Doug Ford has also been very vocal about his opposition to the new levies. On Monday, he signaled that the province might look to restrict its power exports to the United States as a form of leverage. Premier Ford noted the scale of this potential impact when speaking to reporters. “We power 1.5 million homes and businesses,” he said. He further emphasized his position by stating, “Everything’s on the table. I’ll do whatever it takes.”
The tone from the Ontario leadership remains firm regarding the movement of goods across the border. Premier Ford made his stance clear during his comments on Monday, stating, “You won’t get a grain of sand out of Ontario.”
It is clear that the relationship between Washington and Ottawa is currently in a difficult phase. With the threat of power export cuts and the implementation of significant tariffs, both sides are digging in. If the trade war continues to progress at this pace, the landscape of North American commerce could look very different in the coming months.
Published: Aug 25, 2026 02:30 pm