Trump says he might rename Great Lake amid tiff with Canada

Craig Mauger, The Detroit News on Aug 25, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

LANSING, Mich. — President Donald Trump floated the idea of changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America in an Aug. 25 social media post, amid an intensifying feud with Canada.

The Republican president posted about the possibility of the name switch at about 7 a.m. Last year, he issued an order to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of 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 doing much business with Ontario any longer," Trump wrote on the platform Truth Social.

Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes. It is the only one of the five that doesn't surround Michigan, which is known as the Great Lakes State.

A day before his post, Trump said U.S. tariffs on all cars and trucks, automotive parts and steel will be increased to 50% starting Jan. 1, 2027, adding that Canada "will be treated like a state no longer."

The two countries failed to reach a trade deal on Aug. 21, with each side blaming the other as Canada readied tariffs on some U.S. goods in retaliation for 50% levies ordered by Trump on a series of other Canadian goods.

Then, Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, criticized Trump on Aug. 24, calling him a "bully" and a "dictator."

"I am not going to take any advice off a guy that's the king of bankruptcies," Ford said. "He's actually tariffing his own people, taxing his own people."

Curtis Hertel Jr., chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party, was critical of Trump's idea of changing the lake name.

"Donald Trump has been America first in name only his entire presidency. He promised lower prices, higher wages, and no foreign wars… all of that is bull s***," Hertel said. "Renaming the fourth best Great Lake isn't going to change that."

Hertel clarified that he ranked Lake Ontario above Lake Erie.

—Staff Writers Luke Ramseth and Grant Schwab contributed.