Adedokun Waliyu 
US President Donald Trump has said he is considering renaming Lake Ontario as “Lake America” as the trade dispute between the United States and Canada continues to escalate.
Trump backed the proposal by sharing a map showing the name “Lake Ontario” crossed out and replaced with “Lake America.”
“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,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes shared by Canada and the United States. It takes its name from the Canadian province of Ontario, which borders the lake alongside the US state of New York. Toronto, Canada’s largest city, is located on the lake’s northwestern shore.
Trump’s proposal comes as Canada announced a series of retaliatory tariffs on American goods following the collapse of trade negotiations between the two countries.
Trump has also renewed his calls for Canada to become the 51st US state, further straining relations between the two traditionally close allies.
The latest threat also appears to be connected to Trump’s growing dispute with Ontario Premier Doug Ford. Ford recently responded angrily to Trump’s trade measures, telling the US president to “kiss my ass” and threatening to impose a surcharge on electricity exported to the United States.
Trump’s suggestion echoes his earlier move to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.” Mexico has rejected the US renaming, maintaining that the internationally recognised name remains the Gulf of Mexico.
The latest comments come amid an increasingly bitter trade confrontation between Washington and Ottawa, with both sides imposing or threatening additional tariffs as relations deteriorate.
