Updated Aug. 25, 2026, 4:00 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump threatened to rename one of the Great Lakes while mapping out the latest trade dispute with Canada.
His announcement came after trade talks collapsed between the two countries and each began calling for higher tariffs. That could spark a broader trade war between the United States and its second-largest trading partner.
“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 said on social media Aug. 25.
Lake Ontario is the smallest of the Great Lakes separating the United States and Canada, with the international border running through the middle of each waterway, and is a key shipping route to the Atlantic Ocean. Lake Ontario runs along western New York state on the U.S. side, with Toronto sitting along its Canadian shore.
Trump’s threat echoed when he signed a proclamation renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America on the first day of his second term.
Trump also posted a map showing the lake renamed and complained about an annual $60 billion trade deficit with Canada.
“I deal with many countries, and Canada is easily the most difficult and unreasonable,” Trump said. “They feel entitled, but they are not a State, and will be entitled no longer!”
Trump’s announcement came after trade talks between the two countries collapsed Aug. 22. That’s the day tariffs rose 50% on about 5% of Canadian imports such as wine, dairy, hockey sticks and cement.
Trump threatened Aug. 24 to double the tariffs on cars and car parts to 50% on Jan. 1.
Trump officials have characterized the tariffs as “defense measures” in response to “discriminatory” trade practices Canada has taken against on automobiles, dairy products and alcoholic beverages exported from the U.S. to Canada.
Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney threatened retaliatory tariffs that would match U.S. rates “dollar for dollar.” He told reporters in Quebec on Aug. 24 that a trade deal was still possible if Americans respected Canada’s sovereignty.
“When the Americans go to the negotiating table first with the right attitude toward our industry and a true partnership, of course we’ll come to the negotiating table,” Carney said.
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