Lake Ontario Is One of Many Bodies of Water Caught in a Naming Fight
New York Times · LC · trust 49/100
President Trump’s bid to call it ‘Lake America’ stands out in a world full of contested place names, which often represent deeper political or territorial disputes.
Listen · 6:02 min Share full article 4 A ship sails the waters near the Canadian province of Ontario, including Lake Ontario, following efforts by President Trump to rename the body of water Lake America. Credit... Carlos Osorio/Reuters By Zane Irwin
With the stroke of a sharpie last week, President Trump moved to re-designate Lake Ontario, the long-established name for the freshwater lake that lies between New York State and the Canadian province of Ontario, to “ Lake America .”
The executive order came amid an escalating trade war with Canada after negotiations over tariffs fell apart , followed by new tariffs and tough talk between Washington and Ottawa.
Like Mr. Trump’s order to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, last week’s order required only federal entities to recognize the change, but was not binding on other countries.
Lake Ontario thus joined an extensive group of bodies of water with disputed names. Though for some there is no dispute. Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada spiked searches for the word “hydronym,” which means a body of water’s proper name, by more than 5,000 percent in a statement lamenting a changing America.
The United States’ latest rechristening is mostly about “rage-bating and trolling Canadians,” said Reuben Rose-Redwood, a professor of geography at the University of Victoria in Canada.
He said the tiff surrounding Lake Ontario lacks the deep symbolism and geopolitical stakes of some more longstanding naming disputes.
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