Trump’s ‘Lake America’ move revives one of his biggest political flops
By: Aaron Blake (CNN)
What is President Donald J. Trump's fetish with giant holes? He's slapping the 'America' name one hole after hole. Trump loves holes so much that he's making new ones.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
It increasingly feels as though President Donald Trump is trying to do unpopular things ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
But he might have outdone himself with his latest move.
Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to change the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America.” He did so after Canada declined to capitulate in the trade war he recently launched.
While there’s not yet polling on this specific move, it’s difficult to believe it will be anything but a complete political dud.
And while it’s unlikely to exercise Americans too much, it will likely feed into longstanding perceptions that Trump is more focused on trivial matters than the things they actually want, like lowering prices.
The move recalls one of Trump’s splashiest (so to speak) moves on his first day back in office last year, when he signed an order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.”
But that went over like a lead balloon.
An Ipsos poll that week showed Americans opposed the renaming 70%-25%. About 8 in 10 independents opposed it, as did 45% of Republicans. More than four times as many Americans strongly opposed it (46%) as strongly supported it (10%).
A slightly later Marquette Law School poll showed similar — Americans opposed the renaming 71%-29%.
Both polls tested a number of early Trump moves or threatened actions. Remarkably, the “Gulf of America” was the most unpopular among eight things tested in the Marquette poll, and it was the second most unpopular among 15 tested in the Ipsos poll.
In both polls, in fact, it was more unpopular than even Trump’s pardons of January 6, 2021, defendants — perhaps the prototypical controversial early Trump move.
And since then, Americans have taken a pretty dim view of Trump’s penchant for renaming things — including after himself.
After his handpicked board of loyalists tried to rename the Kennedy Center after Trump, Americans said by a 2-to-1 margin that he had “gone too far” in making changes to institutions like it, according to CNN polling from last month. Just 9% of Americans in a Pew Research Center poll said it was appropriate to name things after Trump while he’s still president, yet his administration keeps trying to do just that — including, CNN reported last week, by potentially substituting Trump’s name for a Black war hero’s that was set to be on an aircraft carrier.
And there’s reason to believe that the “Lake America” move will play even worse than the “Gulf of America” did.
The main reason is that Americans tend to be more sympathetic to Canada than Mexico. While there’s a constituency for cracking down on Mexico, especially given decades of illegal immigration over the US-Mexico border, Canada doesn’t engender such negative feelings, recent polling suggests.
Indeed, when Trump launched tariffs against both Canada and Mexico early in his second term, the Canada ones were narrowly more unpopular, with more than 6 in 10 Americans opposing them.
(This, of course, hasn’t stopped Trump from launching another trade war with Canada.)
Americans also balked at Trump’s proposal to make Canada the 51st state. Marquette polling last year showed 75% of Americans opposed that.
The other main problem is the passage of time. While these kinds of stunts might have felt a little cuter when Trump was riding higher early in his term, they now risk reinforcing how preoccupied he is with not just trifles, but things that Americans decidedly do not want.
Polls have long shown around three-quarters of Americans think Trump is neglecting the most important issues, especially lowering prices. Instead, he’s waging war against Iran (which raises gas prices) and launching a trade war with Canada (which also could raise prices).
Now he’s casting a spotlight on the latter with a move that Americans thought was pretty stupid when he did it the first time. And it’s arguably even sillier than that was, given Lake Ontario wasn’t even named after the Canadian province. (It was actually named 200 years earlier, in the 17th Century.)
Even some Republicans are balking, with the GOP nominee for Wisconsin governor, Rep. Tom Tiffany, saying Thursday that the name should stay the same.
Trump joked in the Oval Office Thursday that he might not be done renaming bodies of water.
“We have a gulf. We have a lake. Now all we need is an ocean,” he said. “So maybe we’ll have to change the name of the Atlantic and/or the Pacific. Maybe we’ll change them both.”
You could say he’s playing the hits. But it’s really playing the flops.
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Why isn't there a 'Mount America'? For some reason Trump is attracted to depressions in the Earth? Sinking America to the lowest level isn't what MAGA had in mind.
Trump continues to be an embarrassment. Although his renaming idiocy is largely harmless since it will be undone when the buffoon is out of office, it just shows the degree to which he is a petulant, vindictive man-child. I never even imagined a PotUS would behave like this. It was inconceivable that the American people would elect such an unfit, abysmal character to the presidency.
What kind of mind continues to support / defend this nutcase?
Donald Trump should give us pause over immigrants who refuse to assimilate. The Trump family migrated to the United States to exploit the country. And the family has been gaming the system and exploiting America since then.
The Trump family is not corrupt, etc. because they are 20th-century immigrants. There are plenty of despicable human beings out there whose families have been here for centuries.
Friedrich Trump migrated to the US in 1885 during the Gilded Age. Trump's example shows that immigration is not the cause of corruption -- it is the enabling mechanism that allows corrupt exploitation by migrants. And failure to assimilate perpetuates multi-generational corruption. So, failure to assimilate after immigration could be a cause while immigration itself would only be an enabling process.
Migrants who do not assimilate have not internalized obligations for 'civic duty and responsibility'. Migrants are not grounded in the traditions and cultural norms that developed in the US to allow peaceful coexistence. Failure to assimilate would allow migrants to prioritize their unrestrained self-interest over conforming to the host culture. Migrants who do not assimilate behave like wolves in the fold.
Everything you have ascribed to "migrants who do not assimilate" can be readily said about the general population. Assholishness is a human condition not necessarily dependant upon the beings immigration status. They're an asshole because they're an asshole.
Migrants are just people. People do corrupt exploitation. There is no reason to limit this to only migrants. Being a migrant does not make a person more corrupt than a non-migrant.
Migrants do not have a shared cultural foundation with the host population. That flaw has been papered over by glorifying 'diversity'.
Migrants really are different people from different cultures that are unlike our own culture.
But the non-migrants and their problems are already here, why add more problems when we have problems already?
What of migrants who come from corrupt societies? In some countries 'corrupt exploitation' is a way of life. Just because someone migrates to escape exploitation in their home country doesn't mean they won't practice the same corruption in another country. That's their culture.
Even in nature it is not possible to randomly mix groups of pack or tribal animals. They'll end up fighting each other for dominance. Mixing animals from different 'societies' often ends in violence. That's not easy to dismiss considering on-going tribal conflicts around the world. What's happening in the Middle East is an example of fighting for cultural dominance.
You keep trying to tie this to migrants. Looks to me like you have a conclusion that you are trying to justify rather than following the facts.
Migrants are no different from any other human being. There are good and bad people.
Yeah -- Donald Trump is from an immigrant family who did not assimilate. IMO that's a large influence on why Trump is trying to remake America by doing superficial shit.
That is a 'one world, one people' narrative that simply is not rational. There is far, far too much diversity to make 'one world, one people' anything other than a drug induced hallucination by affluent people who can separate themselves from reality.
John Lennon was a migrant who did not assimilate and was murdered outside his New York apartment.
No it is not. It is the recognition that we are all human beings and are very similar. The notion that migrants are somehow especially prone to corruption is absurd.
So what? We have laws. If they follow the laws, what is your problem?
But the laws are not universal, they're national laws dependent upon sovereignty and cultural underpinnings. The basis for national laws is codification of common law or people's law that are closely intertwined with culture. The totality of law encompasses more than statutes and ordinances. Everyone should be aware of that since the Roe vs. Wade SCOTUS ruling was based upon extensive review of common law.
His Sister and other members of the family assimilated.
There is something wrong with Trump and at least his father Drumpf.
You are only making a case for mental illness, not immigration.
Some immigrants are fine people. Donald Trump said it so it must be true.
Saw this making the rounds and it sums up the inanity…
Superior
Huron
America
Michigan
Erie
…what a debacle.
So y'all are back to "renaming things is bad"?
No, Jeremy, the point is that Trump is engaging in childish, vindictive, and largely pointless acts. Unworthy of the office; a continual embarrassment to this nation. Trump is wholly unfit for office, and those who try to defend him are ipso facto posting irrational, irresponsible, and unpatriotic comments.
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Yes, but for how long?
Democrats / Left: "You can't just rename Lake Ontario to Lake America. That's no thow reality works!"
Also Democrats / left: "Anyway, this is Jessica. She used to be Steve."
a latinix birthing person
Do you approve of Trump's childish faux renaming of Lake Ontario? Do you think this is an appropriate act for a PotUS? What possible good comes from this childishness?
As much as you approve John being call Jennifer.
About the same "good" that come from renaming military installations.
Speaking of making shit up....
This is just another example of how detached from reality Trump sycophants are. They live in a world of their own creation where Trump won the 2020 election, widespread illegal voting is happening regardless of the lack of evidence, there's a Gulf of America, Lake America, the reflecting pool remodel would have been perfect if not for those vandals, Trump is innocent of all 34 felonies, all two dozen women who accused Trump of sexual assault are liars, he never had sex with those two porn stars that got paid off, tariffs are helping, inflation is way down, gas prices and grocery prices are way down and Trump is keeping every promise he made on the campaign trail. They're so far detached from reality that on any one of their deluded topics you can spin your wheels for days without getting them to concede an inch of reality.
The only other place on the planet I've seen reality so skewed was in the "Inside North Korea" National Geographic special with Lisa Ling.
I think many of these psycho sycophants wouldn't care if Trump renamed their grandmothers. When people think some populist figure is sent by their God, they pretty much give them carte blanche.
Aren't you confusing 'bad' with 'stupid'? Renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America is simply stupid. And the hell of it is, this stupidity spends more public money on nothing of value.
Bad and Stupid are not mutually exclusive. They go hand in hand...
Especially in this case, and many other descriptive adjectives also apply, like childish, ignorant, shameful, vindictive, etc.
No different than calling Jeffery - Jennifer.
Like sending Billions to Ukraine?
Are Trump's petty tantrums really helping the GOP down ballot? Is it really worth defending Trump any longer?
At least someone gets some benefit from money spent on the Ukrainian quagmire. Who obtains any benefit from renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America?
Owners of now antique yet frameable Rand Mcnally maps?
You mention Ukraine but fail to mention the war that the US is actively engaged in — Iraq. Do you approve of Trump's 2026 war of choice?
And you think the decade old Democrat tantrum is helping?
Where did I say I was defending him. Or did you, and others come to that conclusion because I'm not 100% in lockstep with you?
Politicians maybe. US Citizens got nothing.
Those who find the lefts freak out over it funny. We all need a laugh like this every once in a while.
The Iraq war pre-dates Trump's entrance in politics. Please try to keep up with acytual current events.
Just stop trolling for a second and deal with serious questions. I meant Iran, not Iraq. It was an obvious typo.
Do you approve of Trump's war of choice ... his war on Iran that he started this year.
Not any longer. Democrats' TDS campaign playbook has been detrimental for establishment candidates. For Democratic politics it seems Trump is transitioning from old news to no news.
Trump has lost his capacity to shock the public. Renaming Lake Ontario is just more of the same stupid shit.
Defense contractors and stockholders got something out Biden's munition pipeline. Republicans and Democrats really have used government to create class distinctions in the county. That's what Trump was supposed to be addressing.
Democrats have proven capable of putting out their own entertaining crazy crap. They don't need new script writers for their freak-outs.
But the typo was his best chance at a rebuttal. We're never going to get them to admit that they have no spines and just bend whichever way their dear Leader tells them to, but we all know that's the reality. Asking for a MAGA sycophants' opinion on their dear Leader is like asking a phone scammer if they're really from the bank and are they sure it's safe to give them your account number. Any response you get will have no relationship with the truth or reality, it will just be more deflection, wiggling and contorting to avoid every having to stand up for something. I think when Trump said he loved the poorly educated it wasn't just because he loved how gullible they were to believe him in the first place, it was because perhaps he knew if a creature lacked brains, they also lacked spines and would never be able to stand up to him.
I responded to what you said. Not my problem if you can't keep shit straight.
Not the topic of the article. When you can stay on topic we'll talk.
They have the candidates. They just have no plan / platform to run on.
Renaming the lake kind of put the normal people who freak out about everything on their heels. It's kind of fun to watch.
From a shipping standpoint. Now they are working frantically to rebuild the stockpiles depleted by this "grand gesture".
Oh, that's an understatement.
Maybe the Canada Geese will prefer to migate farher south to Mexico now, like other "Snowbirds". After all, they're illegal immigrants inthe USA aren't they?
For whatever reason most of the northern most geese fly the Pacific migratory route and do, in fact, go to Mexico, Yucatan and further south.
Canada geese from southern Canada tend to stay in South Eastern states over the winter.
Maybe the movie Fly Away Home will have to be redone.
And rectal warts have been renamed 'Trump bumps'. Toilet plungers have been renamed 'Trump pumps'. Hemorrhoid cream has been renamed Trumperation-H. Septic systems have been renamed 'Trump Tanks'. And going to the 'Donald John' is a euphemism for going to the bathroom and taking a shit.
Just going to the "Donald" should be enough. There is a snooker champion with the name Judd Trumo, who I doubt is related. I wonder if he's thought about changing his name.
The Potomac could be renamed the Dipshit Ditch.
"Any place with a bathroom nearby? That Taco Bell from earlier caught up to me and I really need to go take a Donald."
Got one here you can use.
While I didn't vote for this lame joke of a President, I do apologize for the piece of shit some crusty bigot's way past their expiration date managed to elect and cause such harm to our friends and allies.
He's renamed an airport, an Arts Centre, a gulf and a lake and I don't know what else, but the St. Lawrence River is ripe for him to rename. If there isn't room for his head on Mount Rushmore, he'll probably rename it Trump Mountain.. Americans will forever be reminded of the damage he has done to them, besides to the rest of the world.
That is not necessarily a bad thing. I mean, isn't that the same justification they use for leaving the statues of other bigoted assholes around?
As Rhett Butler said at the end of Gone with the Wind......
I didnt think google maps would change it so quickly
Yes, it's very quick to spread and perpetuate ignorance, isn't it.
I grew up in rochester, and I am not thinking that I will ever call it lake america. But I might call canadian geese donald ducks because they shit all over the place
LOL. So be it.
No , George, that would be more applicable for the St. Lawrence River.
The pool at Mar-a-Lago has been renamed the Straight of Whore Shmooze.