President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he is giving "serious consideration" to renaming Lake Ontario to "Lake America." This potential action mirrors a previous move where Trump considered renaming the Gulf of Mexico to "Gulf of America" early in his second term.
Lake Ontario, like the Gulf of Mexico, is an international waterway shared by the United States and Canada. Both countries jointly manage the lake through the International Joint Commission and the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. New York State and Ontario are responsible for governing their respective portions of the lakebed and shoreline.
While Trump can unilaterally change geographic names for official U.S. federal government use, as he did with an executive order for the Gulf of Mexico, he does not have the authority to dictate what other countries or international bodies call these bodies of water.
In separate remarks, Trump also rejected claims made by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney that the U.S. had threatened Canada's use of the French language during ongoing trade negotiations. Trump stated on his social media platform that he would "never interfere with Canadians speaking French."
"I have never even thought of doing such a stupid thing. This lie was made up by a weak and ineffective Prime Minister in an attempt to gain political support, which he has totally lost, from the people of Quebec. I love French Canadians!" Trump posted.
During a press conference on Saturday, Carney had stated that the Trump administration sought changes to Canada's use of the French language as one of the reasons for the collapse of trade talks. "This was not our choice. We were ready and close to having a comprehensive agreement that would be fair to both countries. But they made changes, including threats on the French language and Quebec culture and Canadian culture. That is not acceptable. That would never be acceptable," Carney said.