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Screenshot of Truth Social by U.S. President Donald Trump

Amid escalating trade tensions between the U.S. and Canada, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he is considering renaming Lake Ontario, situated on the border between the two countries, to Lake America.

President Trump stated on his social media platform Truth Social on the 25th local time, "The United States is giving serious consideration to changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America in that we don't expect to be doing much business with Ontario any longer."

Lake Ontario is a massive lake located between the Canadian province of Ontario and New York State, serving as a border between the two nations.

The Trump administration announced on the 22nd that it would impose 50 percent tariffs on Canadian products worth $20 billion (approximately 27.7 trillion won), and the Canadian government likewise announced retaliatory tariffs of up to 50 percent on U.S. imports on the same day.

According to a report by The Washington Post (WP), Prime Minister Carney said in a statement, "An attitude that treats Canada like a subordinate agency of the United States in the negotiation process is completely unacceptable." He drew a firm line against a "growing list of concessions," stating that "enough is enough."

This is not the first time President Trump has pursued name changes for major geographical features. In January 2025, he declared through an executive order that the Gulf of Mexico would be renamed the Gulf of America, and Denali in Alaska, the highest peak in North America, would be reverted to its former name, Mount McKinley.

Since then, major federal agencies in the U.S. have applied the changed names in official documents and press releases, while leading platforms such as Google Maps display different names depending on the user's accessing country.

Major news outlets are maintaining a cautious stance, taking into account the historical significance and broad public recognition of the established geographical names that have been used for centuries. When the Associated Press (AP) continued to refer to the body of water as the Gulf of Mexico while acknowledging the new name, President Trump barred its reporters from accessing the White House.

                                                                                                           Lee Jeong-eun