Trump Makes Lake Ontario Name-Change ‘Official’ by Writing on This Piece of Paper

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President Donald Trump “changed” the name of Lake Ontario in a social media taunt directed at Canada amid a bitter trade war.

In a video posted to the president’s TikTok account on Wednesday night, Trump displays a printed map of Lake Ontario while seated in the Oval Office.

“So this is Lake Ontario, in Canada and in the United States,” Trump says in the clip. “But we’re gonna make a little change. We’re gonna call it something different than Lake Ontario. We’re gonna call it Lake America. And all it takes is a good pen and some intelligence.”

@realdonaldtrumpLAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!♬ original sound – President Donald J Trump

Trump then picks up a black pen, crosses out Lake Ontario, and writes “Lake America.”

“So Lake Ontario, that’s gone. Lake America. So now we have a lake, and now we have a gulf, because we have the Gulf of America. Now we have Lake America, without the ‘of.’ Thank you very much, everybody. Enjoy Lake America.”

Trump’s video is the latest salvo in the ongoing trade war with Canada that erupted over the weekend.

The “Lake America” controversy was conceived on Tuesday, when Trump posted to his Truth Social account that he was giving “serious consideration” to the name change.

“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 [sic] much business with Ontario any longer,” Trump said in the post. “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

Serious consideration or not, the comments have roiled Canada and Americans alike.

Trump’s second term has been rife with hostility toward America’s northern neighbor, with the president vowing to make it the 51st state; bemoaning wildfire smoke drifting into the United States and sparring with officials over the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, linking Detroit, Michigan, with Windsor, Ontario.

Earlier this week, Trump accused Canada of “ripping off” the U.S., declaring, “WE DON’T NEED CANADA, THEY NEED US!” while presenting his plans for tariffs that Ottawa has vowed to match dollar-for-dollar.

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