President Donald Trump’s decision to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America” has been met with disbelief, ridicule and outright rejection from some Americans living along the lake, with residents insisting they will continue calling the historic body of water by its familiar name.
Trump signed an executive order on Thursday directing the US Department of the Interior and the US Board on Geographic Names to formalise the change within 30 days, according to USA TODAY.
The move came amid escalating tensions between the United States and Canada following a breakdown in tariff negotiations between the two countries.
But residents on the New York shoreline of Lake Ontario told the USA TODAY Network on Friday that they had little interest in adopting Trump’s preferred name.
Sharee Turpin of Gates, New York, who has visited the lake every summer since childhood, said her initial reaction to the proposed name change was laughter.
“I just wanted it to stay Lake Ontario because it’s part of our history,” Turpin said.
Lake Ontario predates the founding of both the United States and Canada, according to USA TODAY.
The lake borders the Canadian province of Ontario to the north, west and southwest, while its southern and eastern shores are in New York State.
‘Lake Ontario will remain Lake Ontario’
Monroe County Executive Adam Bello was among officials who rejected Trump’s order.
“After a long day at work, I thought I’d enjoy some Abbott’s at Ontario Beach Park, overlooking Lake Ontario,” Bello wrote on social media, alongside a photograph of himself at the lakefront.
“Lake Ontario will remain Lake Ontario. Ontario Beach Park will remain Ontario Beach Park. The Genesee River is safe. So is the Erie Canal,” he said.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul also rejected the proposed name.
“New York won’t be calling it that,” Hochul said in response to the order, according to the USA TODAY Network.
The resistance has also crossed party lines.
Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin, who is backed by Trump in his bid for governor, disagreed with the President’s decision.
“I believe the Great Lakes are the Great Lakes and should stay Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Ontario,” Tiffany said at a campaign event, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Republican Vermont Governor Phil Scott described Trump’s move as “petty and disappointing.”
‘There are more pressing issues’
For some residents living near the lake, the issue was less about the name itself and more about what they considered misplaced priorities.
Mike Olcott and Pat Vito, both of Greece, New York, told the Democrat and Chronicle that they were shocked by Trump’s announcement.
“We got crime problems and all kinds of things that we need to take care of,” Vito said.
“That body of water will always be there.”
John Melder, also of Greece, laughed when asked about the proposed name.
“He (Trump) did the same thing with the Gulf of Mexico and it’s still the Gulf of Mexico, so this would still be Lake Ontario,” Melder said.
“I think people will do what I do and not take it seriously.”
Trump: ‘All we need is an ocean’
Trump’s order follows his earlier move to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
At the Oval Office signing ceremony, Trump appeared to suggest that the renaming campaign could extend beyond the lake.
“If you think about it, we have a gulf and we have a lake, now all we need is an ocean,” Trump said.
“So maybe we’ll have to change the name of the Atlantic and/or the Pacific.”
The White House defended the Lake America decision, with spokesperson Allison Schuster telling USA TODAY that most of the lake’s volume is in the United States and that the new name would reflect its “place in America and her heritage.”
The White House did not comment on the public reaction reported by USA TODAY.
Democratic Rep. Joseph Morelle, whose district includes communities along the lake, described the renaming as a distraction from more pressing problems facing residents.
“This is just another attempt to distract the public from critical issues that deliver undue harm to low-income and middle-class consumers and small business owners,” Morelle said.
For residents who have lived alongside the lake for generations, however, the response appears straightforward: whatever appears on an official US map, many say they will continue to call it Lake Ontario.
Follow the story
