Trump directs federal government to rename Lake Ontario to Lake America
President Trump signed an executive order on Thursday directing the federal government to rename Lake Ontario amid an escalating trade dispute with Canada . (Image credit: Andrew Harnik)
President Trump signed an executive order on Thursday directing the federal government to rename Lake Ontario amid an escalating trade dispute with Canada .
(Image credit: Andrew Harnik)
A map labeling Lake Ontario as "Lake America" is displayed as U.S. President Donald Trump takes a question from a reporter after signing an executive order during an event in the Oval Office. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images North America hide caption
President Trump is escalating his ongoing dispute with Canada over tariffs with a new executive order renaming Lake Ontario, which sits between New York and Canada, to Lake America.
The order, which Trump signed Thursday, directs the federal government to rename the smallest of the great lakes "effective immediately." However, the order also outlines administrative steps that must occur first. He made a similar move last year renaming the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America.
"We have a gulf, and we have a lake, now all we need is an ocean," Trump told reporters at the Oval Office signing.
He went to blame Canada for the renaming.
"We deal with a lot of people, and people oftentimes they'll ask me, 'Who's the worst to deal with on trade?' And I said, 'That's easy, Canada. They are the worst to trade, and they they feel entitled, and just we can't have that,'" Trump explained.