Trump renames Lake Ontario ’Lake America’

US President Donald Trump has become embroiled in a new controversy amid an ongoing trade dispute with Canada. On Thursday (August 27) local time, he announced that Lake Ontario, one of the largest lakes in North America, will be renamed 'Lake America'.

However, Trump's decision only applies to use by the US federal government. The order does not have the power to force Canada, international organizations or any other entity to change the name of the lake.

"Starting today, we are changing the name of Lake Ontario to 'Lake America.' This is a change that I've been thinking about for a long time," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

Canada's clear objection

Within hours of Trump's announcement, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that they would not change the name.

Carney said the lake's name predates the founding of Canada and the United States—both countries—by more than 400 years.

"We know America is changing—its trade relations, foreign policy, national monuments, and hydrographic names are changing," he said on social media. "But Canadians know that reality must be called by its rightful name—Lake Ontario, then, now, and always."

About 52 percent of Lake Ontario's watershed is in Canada, and the rest is in New York State in the United States.

New York Governor Kathy Hokul also rejected Trump's decision, saying, "New York will not call it that."Along with Canada and New York, Phil Scott, the Republican governor of the US state of Vermont, has also criticized Trump's decision.

He called it a 'trivial and disappointing' decision.

Pierre Picard, Grand Chief of the Wendat Nation in Quebec, also strongly opposed the name change. According to him, the name 'Ontario' comes from the Wendat language, which means 'the lake is beautiful and vast.'

He said, 'President Trump is trying to erase our history.'

New tensions in trade dispute

The lake's name change comes at a time when trade relations between the United States and Canada are already tense.

Trade talks between the two countries broke down last week. After three days of intense negotiations, both sides blamed each other for the impasse.Meanwhile, tariffs imposed by the Trump administration have affected more than $100 billion worth of goods in US-Canada trade.