Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday renaming Lake Ontario, with it now known as “Lake America.” Andrea Horwath, mayor of Hamilton, Ontario, pushed back on Trump’s renaming by assigning herself a new position during an appearance on CNN’s “The Lead.”
“We’re on the edge of Lake Ontario, but we’re also known as the head of the lake. So if Hamilton’s the head of the lake, does that make me the head of America?” Horwath asked. “This is how silly things have gotten, right? I mean, if I was the head of America, or the mayor of America, I’d drop the tariffs right now and get people back to work.”
This isn’t the first time Trump has used his time in office to Americanize the names of bodies of water. Notably, in January 2025, the president spent the early days of his second presidential term to sign a similar executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America.” As Trump’s tariff war with Canada heats up, Horwath noted that she’s “been there, done that” with Trump’s name changes.
“I’m Hamilton’s mayor, so what I’m focused on is getting people working, making sure that we’re doing everything we can to protect and support our workers,” she said. “I don’t have time for silly name games.” You can watch the full clip below.
Trump’s decision was met with some bipartisan derision, as figures across the aisle took to social media to similarly joke about the name change and call it unimportant amid more serious issues. New York Governor Kathy Hochul simply stated that her state “won’t be calling it that,” while Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers remarked, “I just renamed Lake Michigan Lake Wisconsin. See, I can sign napkins that say things, too,” while seated at Trump’s stomping ground of McDonald’s.
Right wing personality Matt Walsh, meanwhile, went more in-depth on his feelings about the change, stating that the name Lake Ontario was coined by Europeans before the Canadian province shared that name.
“Canadians never uniquely owned the lake or the name. So in effect all you’re doing here is actually giving them credit for a thing that wasn’t theirs to begin with,” Walsh wrote. “Yeah it’s funny when Canadians are upset I guess or whatever, but Lake Ontario, the name itself, is American history dating back many centuries. Not sure how you own Canada by deleting your own history.”
You can see more reactions below.
