President Donald Trump’s decision to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America” is reviving a political strategy that has already proved deeply unpopular with voters. The move comes amid another trade fight with Canada and echoes Trump’s 2025 effort to rename the Gulf of Mexico. Polling on that earlier decision showed overwhelming opposition, raising questions about whether the latest naming campaign will land any better.
Trump Brings Back the Renaming Strategy
Trump signed an executive order Thursday directing the change from Lake Ontario to “Lake America.” The decision follows Canada’s refusal to give in to the trade war Trump recently launched. But the political payoff is far less clear. The earlier “Gulf of America” campaign offers a warning. An Ipsos poll conducted in January 2025 found that Americans opposed the change by 70% to 25%. Independents opposed it by about 8 to 1, while 45% of Republicans also opposed the renaming. A later Marquette Law School poll produced nearly identical results, with 71% opposed and 29% supporting the change.
The Gulf of America Was a Political Dud
The polling was unusually blunt. Among eight Trump actions tested by Marquette, renaming the Gulf of Mexico was the least popular. In the Ipsos survey, it ranked second-lowest among 15 actions. In both surveys, Americans viewed the Gulf renaming less favorably than Trump's pardons of defendants convicted in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack. The numbers suggest that Americans did not view the naming effort as a major priority, and many actively disliked it.
Canada Makes ‘Lake America’ a Tougher Sell
The latest move could face an additional problem: the target is Canada. Polling cited in the source material suggests Americans generally view Canada more favorably than Mexico. When Trump imposed tariffs on Canada and Mexico early in his second term, more than six in 10 Americans opposed the tariffs on Canada. Trump has since launched another trade conflict with Canada. His proposal to make Canada the 51st U.S. state also met strong resistance. A Marquette poll last year found that 75% of Americans opposed the idea. That makes a patriotic renaming campaign involving a major lake shared with Canada an awkward political proposition.
Voters Have Also Rejected Trump’s Self-Naming Push
Trump's broader interest in putting his name on institutions has also faced resistance. After a board appointed by Trump attempted to rename the Kennedy Center after him, a poll found Americans saying by a 2-to-1 margin that he had gone too far in making changes to institutions such as the center. A Pew Research Center poll found that only 9% of Americans believed it was appropriate to name things after Trump while he was still president. Yet the administration has continued pursuing naming changes, including consideration of replacing the name of a Black war hero with Trump's name on an aircraft carrier.
The Bigger Problem May Be What Voters Want
The timing could matter as much as the name itself. Polling has shown that roughly three-quarters of Americans believe Trump is neglecting the issues they consider most important, particularly efforts to lower prices. Instead, Trump has focused on actions including military conflict with Iran and a new trade dispute with Canada, both of which could contribute to higher prices. Against that backdrop, another fight over the name of a body of water risks looking less like a priority and more like a distraction. And Lake Ontario has another historical wrinkle. Its name does not come from the Canadian province of Ontario. The lake's name dates to the 17th century, roughly 200 years before the province was established.
Republicans Are Already Pushing Back
The latest renaming effort is not receiving universal support within Trump's own party. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the Republican nominee for governor of Wisconsin, said Thursday that the name should remain Lake Ontario. Trump, meanwhile, suggested the campaign may not stop with a lake and a gulf. Speaking in the Oval Office Thursday, he joked that the Atlantic and Pacific oceans could eventually be next. "We have a gulf. We have a lake. Now all we need is an ocean," Trump said.
What Comes Next
FAQ
Why does Trump want to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America”?
Trump signed an executive order to change the lake's name after Canada declined to capitulate in the trade war he recently launched.
Has Trump renamed a body of water before?
Yes. Trump signed an order in 2025 to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.”
Did Americans support renaming the Gulf of Mexico?
Polling in 2025 showed strong opposition. Ipsos found Americans opposed the change 70% to 25%, while a later Marquette poll found opposition of 71% to 29%.
Do Americans support renaming Lake Ontario?
The source material does not provide polling specifically on Trump's proposed “Lake America” name. It does cite strong opposition to several of Trump's previous naming proposals.
Why could the Lake America proposal be politically difficult for Trump?
The move comes as Trump is fighting a new trade war with Canada, a country Americans tend to view more favorably than Mexico. Polling has also shown that voters are concerned about Trump focusing on issues other than lowering prices.
