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New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday responded to President Donald Trump’s executive order to rename Lake Ontario to “Lake America” amid his ongoing trade war with Canada, saying her state would continue using the old name.
“New York won’t be calling it that,” Hochul, a Democrat, wrote on X.
Trump’s order, directs the Interior Department and Board on Geographic Names to update federal records and provide guidance so federal references reflect the new name.
But Canada and international bodies are not required to adopt the new name.
TRUMP RENAMES LAKE ONTARIO ‘LAKE AMERICA’ AMID INTENSIFYING US-CANADA TRADE DISPUTE
“The name Lake Ontario comes from the Wendat word Ontari’io, which, appropriately, means ‘the lake is beautiful, the lake is big.’ The name is more than 400 years old, predating both the Confederation of Canada and the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a statement.
“We know that America is changing. Their trading relationships, their foreign policies, their national monuments, their hydronyms. Canadians also know that naming reality means calling it Lake Ontario — then, now and always,” he added.
U.S. states are also not bound by the order and can continue using “Lake Ontario” on state maps, highway signs and tourism materials. Hochul, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and Vermont Gov. Phil Scott were among state leaders who criticized or mocked the move.
“And I just renamed Lake Michigan Lake Wisconsin. See, I can sign napkins that say things, too,” Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, wrote on X alongside a video of himself writing “Lake Wisconsin” on a McDonald’s paper napkin and signing the bottom.
Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, called Trump’s move to rename the lake over the trade feud “petty and disappointing.”
“We should be at the negotiating table, finding a path forward that strengthens both the U.S. and Canadian economies. Further escalating tensions does nothing to help American or Canadian families and businesses,” Scott said.
The name Lake Ontario is also commonly traced to an Indigenous word translated as “lake of shining waters,” and includes around 5.6 million Americans and Canadians in its watershed, according to the Center for Great Lakes Literacy. The lake borders Canada’s Ontario province and New York, connecting the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean through the St. Lawrence Seaway.
Hochul has criticized Trump for the trade war with Canada, saying earlier this week that the president is “treating our allies as enemies” and that “American families continue to suffer because of it.”
TRUMP TAUNTS CANADA ON RENAMING LAKE ONTARIO THE ‘LAKE AMERICA’ AMID RISING BORDER TRADE RIFT
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New York is among many states expected to be hit hard by the trade war with the U.S.’s northern neighbor. U.S. goods and services traded with Canada totaled an estimated $872.3 billion last year, according to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer’s office.
Carney said the Canadian government would impose retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. beginning Sept. 8 in response to the Trump administration’s new 50% tariffs on about $20 billion worth of Canadian goods, which took effect earlier this month.
The prime minister said Canada “will match Washington’s new tariffs dollar for dollar in order to protect Canadian workers, farmers, families, and businesses.”
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