US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to rename Lake Ontario to Lake America. The change applies only to official maps and documents of the US government.
The decision followed the collapse of trade talks with Canada and the US imposition of 50-percent tariffs on Canadian goods. Canada responded with counter-tariffs on American goods worth 20 billion dollars.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney reminded that the name Lake Ontario comes from the Wendat word Ontari'io and means "beautiful lake, great lake". According to him, it existed long before the formation of Canada and the US.
Trump had already renamed the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America a year earlier. At that time, many countries, including Mexico, the UK, and China, refused to recognize the new name.
On Saturday, Trump posted two AI-generated videos on Truth Social. In one, he kicks down a sign reading "Welcome to Lake Ontario" and replaces it with "Welcome to Lake America", then dances to the song YMCA.
The second clip shows an army of Canadian geese with human arms holding assault rifles. The birds march to the theme from Hawaii Five-O, and at the end they raise their weapons and fire into the air. The video ends with the caption "LAKE AMERICA β PROTECTED BY DONALD DUCKS".
The internet quickly reacted with memes. The service MapQuest allowed users to name the lake themselves. Jokes appeared about the awkward abbreviation and alternative name options.
Carney stated that the lake will remain Lake Ontario "now and always". Critics, including representatives of the Seneca Nation and journalists, called Trump's stunt absurd.
Can renaming one lake change anything in the relations between the two countries?
For now, the dispute remains in the realm of memes and videos, while real maps and names in Canada do not change.
