NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 28 — Canada has rejected US President Donald Trump’s decision to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America”, with Prime Minister Mark Carney insisting the waterway’s more than 400-year-old name will remain “then, now and always.”

📻 Breaking It Down

Trump signed an executive order on Thursday directing the US government to use “Lake America” in federal references, saying the change was effective immediately.

The order gives the US Department of the Interior 30 days to update the name in the Geographic Names Information System, the official repository of US domestic geographic names.

The move escalates tensions between Washington and Ottawa following the collapse of trade talks last week and the imposition by the US of new 50 per cent tariffs on about $20 billion (C$28 billion) worth of Canadian goods.

📌 What You Need to Know

Canada has said it will respond with “dollar-for-dollar” counter-tariffs from September 8.

Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of renaming the lake during the trade dispute, arguing that Canada has taken advantage of the US in trade.

Speaking as he signed the order in the Oval Office, Trump said the move was not intended as a direct message to Canada, but linked it to what he described as longstanding trade grievances.

“I’ve been thinking about it for a long time,” Trump said, adding that the US already had a gulf and a lake and joking that “all we need is an ocean.”

Carney responded by pointing to the history of the name, saying Lake Ontario dates back more than 400 years, predating both the Canadian Confederation and the US Declaration of Independence.

“We know that America is changing. Their trading relationships, their foreign policies, their national monuments, their hydronyms,” Carney said in a social media post.

📰 Source: Capital FM Kenya