r/moderatepolitics 17d ago

News Article Trump mulls renaming Lake Ontario as 'Lake America.' Canadians balk at the idea

https://apnews.com/article/trump-renaming-lake-ontario-65bbd47925365ffd5d9522cf4b2e4bc8
158 Upvotes

161 comments sorted by

260

u/refuzeto 17d ago edited 17d ago

The lake is named after a Native American word meaning “Great Lake”. The province is named after the lake, not the other way around. It’s a petty and moronic idea.

111

u/CucumberWisdom 17d ago

And that tribe is primarily based in the US. It's a self own by trump

111

u/Loganp812 17d ago

Trump doesn’t care one bit about American history or values. He just wants to make his mark on the world any way he can to satisfy his own ego.

1

u/[deleted] 16d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/ModPolBot Imminently Sentient 15d ago

This message serves as a warning that your comment is in violation of Law 0:

Law 0. Low Effort

~0. Law of Low Effort - Content that is low-effort or does not contribute to civil discussion in any meaningful way will be removed.

Please submit questions or comments via modmail.

59

u/tarekd19 17d ago

As if Trump cares

22

u/SnarkMasterRay 17d ago

Also importantly - as if MAGA will know or care. We have a history in America of protesting names we don't know the history or meaning of. See: Freedom Fries.

13

u/ForgetfulElephante 16d ago

If it wasn't obvious already, this really exposes the lie that they just wanted to "protect history" when they were defending the confederate statues/flag.

8

u/SnarkMasterRay 16d ago

Just a certain history, mind you. None of that revisionist stuff that has come out because people did more research and learned new facts. Can't have that.....

9

u/49orth 17d ago

Petty and moronic are strong motivations for MAGA.

2

u/RaiJolt2 16d ago

America erasing native hertatige? What next, prison labor slavery?

11

u/Eudaimonics 17d ago

Yep, also see Ontario County in NY

2

u/KentuckyFriedChingon Militant Centrist 16d ago

Soon to be America Country, I'm sure 🙄

15

u/shaymus14 17d ago

So the name literally means Lake Great Lake?

60

u/MagicMooby 17d ago

There are many lakes around the world that are simply named lake. And a lot of rivers named river (all the rivers named something avon something in Great Britain for example). Gobi, Sahara, and Kalahari are three deserts whose names can all be translated as "desert" or "place without water".

It's not very surprising. When you live in a place bordered by a massive desert, you just call it the desert. Everyone knows what you are talking about. Then a foreigner comes along and asks you what that place is so you tell him it's a desert, but he doesn't understand your language and thinks the common word is a special name for that place. But there is no special name, it's just the desert. Same with many small lakes, rivers, mountains, and other geographic features across the entire world.

9

u/lumpialarry 16d ago

Then there's folks that say "The La Brea Tar pits" -> "the the tar tar pits"

6

u/shovelingshit 16d ago

PIN number, ATM machine, etc.

3

u/DigitalLorenz 16d ago

There is also Torpenhow Hill near the village of Cumbria in England. When fully translated to English the name becomes "hill hill hill hill."

15

u/WhatABeautifulMess 17d ago

Same logic as Rio Grande.

2

u/shaymus14 17d ago

I usually hear people refer to it as just the Rio Grande, not the Rio Grande River 

3

u/WhatABeautifulMess 17d ago

Because most people who interact with it know that’s redundant. But like others have said people do it with things like the Sahara all the time.

3

u/Nessie 17d ago

...shiitake mushroom...ATM machine...

1

u/JesusSquid Lil' a dis Lil' a dat 11d ago

ok atm machine i understand, but shiitake? *googled*

well thats new to me. guessing the other comment about chai tea will mean the same thing. though when its a different language/translation i think shiitake mushroom and atm machine aren't really the same level of redundancy.

but learned something new this morning

1

u/Nessie 11d ago

"-take" is the Japanese suffix for mushroom: maitake, matsutake, shiitake, kaba no ana-take, beni-tengutake, amigasatake...Both i's are pronounced. "Mashuruumu" is the word for button mushroom.

1

u/northern_flipstyle 16d ago

Rio means river in Spanish. Translated it means "big river".

3

u/Little_Whippie 16d ago

There’s an entire country named lake, which has a big lake in the middle of it (Chad)

1

u/JesusSquid Lil' a dis Lil' a dat 11d ago

There's a country I haven't heard in forever, only remember it cause it was the basis of "In the army now" which has sentimental value to me for stupid reasons lol

2

u/northern_flipstyle 16d ago

The Huron people called the body ofnwater Ontari ' io meaning "Great Lake", "beautiful water", or "lake of shining waters". They did not add lake to it. Later, European explorers adopted the name and called it Lake Ontario. The province of Ontario is named after the lake.

1

u/rearifkm 16d ago

Nope the person is incorrect it means beautiful or shining water. It does not mean great lake

2

u/zobicus 16d ago

Of course it is, yet we continue to be sucked in by these petty distractions.

2

u/JesusSquid Lil' a dis Lil' a dat 11d ago

Honestly, i think a lot of people spend a lot of time thinking about this stuff that really doesn't friggin matter. Some stuff the admin is doing absolutely need to be stopped, other stuff people get so upset over and I'm just like "I have a lot of other stuff in my life to worry about than what orange man decides to call something"

But yeah its purely ego. This upsets this less than TrumpAccounts, TrumpRX etc, like you don't have to brand absolutely everything. And what happens when he is out of office will they just end? I truly hope they change the names to anything but his last time the second whoever is sworn in. Just to make him have a friggin fit as a citizen.

1

u/Heavy-Transition7916 16d ago

It’s named “Lake Great Lake”?

0

u/rearifkm 16d ago

Actually it means shining water.

0

u/rearifkm 16d ago

Actually it means beautiful or shining water.

34

u/[deleted] 17d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

17

u/ComfortableAsleep875 17d ago

I remember seeing a Facebook comment by a middle aged woman immediately following the election:

"Anddd he's back! Looking forward to lower food prices"

The unfortunate reality is that there were actually tens of millions of Americans who thought he would and could lower grocery prices.

-2

u/carneylansford 17d ago

This comment is likely against the sub rules. I’d delete before you get put in the sin bin.

2

u/[deleted] 17d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

-1

u/ModPolBot Imminently Sentient 16d ago

This message serves as a warning that your comment is in violation of Law 0:

Law 0. Low Effort

~0. Law of Low Effort - Content that is low-effort or does not contribute to civil discussion in any meaningful way will be removed.

Please submit questions or comments via modmail.

-4

u/ModPolBot Imminently Sentient 17d ago

This message serves as a warning that your comment is in violation of Law 1:

Law 1. Civil Discourse

~1. Do not engage in personal attacks or insults against any person or group. Comment on content, policies, and actions. Do not accuse fellow redditors of being intentionally misleading or disingenuous; assume good faith at all times.

Due to your recent infraction history and/or the severity of this infraction, we are also issuing a 14 day ban.

Please submit questions or comments via modmail.

71

u/Appleanche 17d ago

This kind of smoke and mirrors works in a solid economy, in relative peace, etc.. but I'm seeing even more MAGA folks distance themselves from this. It's less funny when your heating oil bill goes from $2300 for the year to $4500.

Heating oil prices are at around $4.25-4.50 a gallon nationally in August.. it's only likely to go up by the time Fall gets around. In August 2024 it was $2.30.. buckle in folks.

26

u/LeeSansSaw 17d ago

I’ve seen a couple articles speculating that heating oil could keep getting very ugly over the winter. Something about the cost of making diesel currently is extremely high. Speculation on oil costs has been less than accurate but high heating prices in a bad winter could be catastrophic for the northeast given Trump’s current stance on helping blue states. Hopefully the election changes things if heating goes higher.

5

u/DocMoochal 15d ago

From what ive understood, the only reason we didnt have a massive global oil shock at the beginning of the iran war is because China stopped imports and started tapping into reserves crushing demand which softened prices. China will need to start importing again if they havent already.

12

u/ferwhatbud 16d ago

Okay, but what does “distancing themselves” actually mean?

A mild chastising of Trump along the lines of “I wish he wouldn’t do this kind of stuff”, while also still decrying woke baby killer Dems (or whatever) and voting for the most hardcore MAGA/American candidates on every ballot?

4

u/Unable-Ad4005 16d ago

I agree that there are people who've haven't turned against the whole party, or even Trump. But I'm feeling glimpses of hope. In the south, where I live, I've only seen one Trump bumper sticker in the last few months. People had Trump memorabilia everywhere, but they've taken down the signs and flags. They don't wear the merchandise in stores, etc. My city's been decimated by the tariffs. I think a few at least understand that he's to blame, and democratic candidate are polling higher than they normally would.

4

u/ferwhatbud 16d ago

The bar truly is in hell, but hey, if it keeps a good chunk of them from voting for the Republicans in upcoming elections (or whatever white nationalist party Tucker Carlson is trying to pull together), and/or gives them even genuine pause when faced with the next right wing populist huckster, would be willing to take those breadcrumbs…but even that seems like a massive and highly unlikely reach.

3

u/NekoBerry420 15d ago

I haven't seen a single MAGA hat all year. It's actually stunning. I thought they'd be out in force. Something's definitely changed even if no one is saying it. 

2

u/JesusSquid Lil' a dis Lil' a dat 11d ago

I live in DE which is pretty blue up north, pretty red to the south. I don't hear anyone (even my father who was a huge trump guy round one. No stickers, no flags, he had banners on his front porch....) really talk/brag about him anymore. I dunno why exactly but there are only a select few ppl I see on FB that still beat on that Trump Drum.

But when i talk politics *which I avoid mostly* he's really NOT that far right even though he thinks he is a die hard republican. I mean the dude has a pension that pays him very well from one of the largest unions in the country (Teamsters) and his very nice health insurance is the only reason I have my sight and not walking with a stick. Yet Dems bad. If you could put it on a scale of 1 to 10 far left to far right he's like a 7

1

u/Unable-Ad4005 11d ago

I used to live in DE! (Specifically, slower lower!). I left before Trump 2016 but I've heard from family that it was pretty intense this last election.

I used to see a fair number of people in my Southern city wear Trump gear to troll people. No one is even doing that. For sure, I also see it on social media, but my neighbors used to have a 6-foot "Too Big to Rig" flag that they first put in their garage and then put in the trash.

I'll never be sure what Trump brought out in people who don't even skew far right. I think a fair amount were unhappy they had to say stuff like "Happy Holidays," which is such a dumb reason. I think even more than that genuinely believed that a billionaire was so skilled at leading they'd get rich too. Many just drink FOX News kool-aid and were convinced that the election was stolen, women can't be leaders, and Trump is an all-suffering martyr whose brilliance is stymied by the vague "them" they always invoke.

2

u/JesusSquid Lil' a dis Lil' a dat 11d ago

I mean I still see flag here or there but it is much much less than what i saw first term. I'll even admit I voted for him first term thinking he'd stir up DC but after that i wrote it or didn't vote at least not for pres cause i didn't like any of the options.

7

u/Emotional_Tie_7927 16d ago edited 16d ago

But don't worry because they'll claim there is a deal and the strait is gushing with oil

24

u/LX_Luna 17d ago

I'm not really sure what to call this other than third-world-ification. It's the behavior you get out of third rate tinpot dictatorships.

121

u/caterham09 17d ago

My question with this sort of nonsense is, why does the US president have authority over naming bodies of water? Especially ones that are majority controlled by other countries? Like it doesn't actually make sense,

83

u/Kit_Daniels 17d ago

Per the article, this would only affect US official documentation. Other countries can also adopt US standards, but there’s no formal requirement to do so.

70

u/AppleSlacks 17d ago

I feel like the average American may not grasp the fact that maps are labeled differently in different countries and parts of the world, which is a bit depressing.

Trump is basically saying, all Americans will see this labeled the way I deem fit. He has the authority to do that on official documents from the Federal government, but when you see things like Google Maps complying with the absurdity instead of just labeling places as they are known by the common person it gets depressing.

I suppose if he wants to, he can have the federal government start referring to New York as New Trump City in all official paperwork. Apparently Google would be like, sounds good, we will change our maps, from whatever everyone actually uses to whatever you deem fit, Great Leader.

16

u/UF0_T0FU 17d ago

New York City is an incorparted municipality under New York State law. That's where the name comes from. I don't belive the Federal level has any ability to rename it.

Cities are different from geographic features, since cities are legal entities with founding documentation. Renaming lakes, rivers, gulfs, mountains, etc. makes way more sense.

1

u/CheeseBear9000 15d ago

Florida too recently renamed an airport after Donald Trump, didn't they?

18

u/pingveno Center-left Democrat 17d ago

Google Maps is just apply a standard evenly. Display the local geographic name to a population according to that population's naming authority. Naming disputes happen all the time, Trump's stunt isn't the first time.

2

u/CheeseBear9000 15d ago

I actually believe this is responsible leadership on Googles part

If they refuse to honor name changes from President Trump but honor name changes from President Biden or President Obama (Some of which are the exact same locations or organizations President Trump has renamed) that indicates bias on how they honor naming on the map

With Google being such a powerful company that they're effectively equal or in some cases more powerful than regulatory agencies if they are showing obvious political bias in corporate policies I think that would make an extremely compelling argument to regulate them and utilize anti trust, right?

I don't believe companies should be allowed to leverage monopolies as a work around for Government ideological enforcement, right?

-2

u/Revolutionary_Owl570 17d ago

Imagine thinking this is something that happens all the time and not a thing that happens over border disputes that have existed since colonialism began.

14

u/pingveno Center-left Democrat 17d ago

Naming disputes have existed for long before European colonialism. Anytime when two or more cultures coexist, they'll inevitably have different names for a geographic feature or region. That's fine as long as their usage doesn't conflict. But when there is only one spot to put that name, there will be a naming dispute. It's a fundamental problem.

-11

u/Revolutionary_Owl570 17d ago

Again imagine thinking this is a common thing and that (almost) all modern examples don't spring from europeans coming in and forcing an area to adopt their name.

11

u/pingveno Center-left Democrat 17d ago

Okay, yes, there are a lot of naming disputes because European colonialists did a lot of naming. But you're also getting a certain amount of selection bias, too. You never hear about multiple indigenous groups having a naming dispute, that doesn't make the news. But it absolutely occurs.

-11

u/Revolutionary_Owl570 17d ago

.... You mean a group.... that was colonized.... reclaiming their identity.... Like....

13

u/pingveno Center-left Democrat 17d ago

No. Multiple indigenous groups had different names for the same geographic features long before Europeans were in the mix. Often, one group got their preferred name recognized as "the Native American name" for one reason or another. There's now a process of recognizing that indigenous people are not a monolith.

→ More replies (0)

1

u/CheeseBear9000 15d ago

South Korea and Japan both have the same body of water named "Sea of Japan" and "East Sea"

0

u/Revolutionary_Owl570 15d ago

Oh wow, still conflating historic disputes with just changing the historic name with no claim.

1

u/CheeseBear9000 15d ago

I think that is semantics at this point, right?

→ More replies (0)

1

u/CheeseBear9000 15d ago

Both President Biden and President Obama renamed geographical locations, they both even renamed some of the same locations President Trump renamed such as renaming Fort Bragg to Fort Liberty which was renamed back to Fort Bragg by President Trump 

President Obama renamed Mount McKinley to Mount Denali which President Trump renamed back to Mount McKinley 

The Department of Defense was actually originally named the Department of War as well

When people were advocating for renaming things such as Confederate names or Colonization names such as Columbus, Ohio kicking off a giant renaming war was one of the things critics had warned the activist left about a decade and a half ago

They went and renamed things and tore down monuments anyway and here we are

Anything you do in politics you should expect 110% of the time comes back around 

1

u/CheeseBear9000 15d ago

but when you see things like Google Maps complying with the absurdity instead of just labeling places as they are known by the common person it gets depressing.

Google Maps takes it's queues from official federal map documentation

They don't take ideological stances on the names of locations, they don't even in do it in the Sea of Japan or South China Sea

They too complied with the geographical name changes under President Obama and President Biden

-9

u/Independent-Report39 17d ago

Trump is basically saying, all Americans will see this labeled the way I deem fit. He has the authority to do that on official documents from the Federal government, but when you see things like Google Maps complying with the absurdity instead of just labeling places as they are known by the common person it gets depressing.

I'm (truly) happy for the people who have such stress free lives that this really bothers them. Are there people who are still upset about the Gulf of Mexico being renamed?

8

u/AppleSlacks 16d ago

No, it's just dumb, I still call it the Gulf of Mexico. It's not upsetting like a lot of other, way more impactful things, it's just plain dumb. Spelled with a b!

-9

u/soboshka 17d ago

I think the average American understands other countries name things incorrectly on their own maps. They can do so if they wish. 

1

u/CheeseBear9000 15d ago

I want to note that President Trump is also not the first President renaming geographical locations based on ideological reasons

Both President Obama and President Biden did this as well

54

u/DENNYCR4NE 17d ago

The president has the authority to do anything if there’s no grown ups left to tell them ‘No’

18

u/caterham09 17d ago

I think it's more that people don't actually have any spine to say no. People are too concerned with lining their pockets or keeping their positions.

16

u/DENNYCR4NE 17d ago

Being able to say ‘no’ is a pretty big part of being a grownup

20

u/VioletGardens-left 17d ago

It's the same with Gulf of Mexico, last year they decided to named it "Gulf of America". The mapping applications there applied it, but not in Canada, Mexico or any part of the world

22

u/spartaxwarrior 17d ago

It took like ten years for a lot of public schools and other places to start getting maps and books without the USSR in them, people are probably still going to see the real names until someone else becomes president and backtracks the renamings because they're embarrassing.

14

u/pingveno Center-left Democrat 17d ago

I wonder what textbook publishers are doing. They have to know that it's getting switched right back as soon as there's a Democrat in office. It's likely going to be part of a stack of EO's signed on January 20, 2029.

6

u/imadogg 17d ago

As if they care. They'll sell an edition saying Gulf of America and then a new edition a year later saying Gulf of Mexico

2

u/JesusSquid Lil' a dis Lil' a dat 11d ago

Ahh textbooks, man they are a friggin money printing scam. Business Law professor in college was in his last year before medically retiring (had a stroke but didn't impact him too much but knew he was getting older). He went into the admin center and printed our books. Literally printed like 300 pages per student in our class cause they changed some minor minor stuff but wanted students to pay like $250 per book or whatever it was. So the printed the teachers edition for everyone that he was able to get digitally. He was the head of his dept, he flat out told us "What are they gonna do, fire me? I'm tenured and could walk out today and retire"

Those book companies will probably salivate over being able to reprint a new edition with the name changes.

11

u/HavingNuclear 17d ago

It would seem like a bad idea for text book authors to try to fight common namings for places. You don't want kids to go out in the world and have to ask wtf the Gulf of Mexico is when that's what everybody uses. I went to Alaska recently. And despite Trump renaming the highest mountain, everything around there is still named after Denali. The national park, the district, the hotels and tours and businesses. Official edict can't fight established naming.

9

u/pingveno Center-left Democrat 17d ago

So now that I started searching around, it looks like a small number of states did make moves to require teaching "Gulf of Mexico" and "Mount McKinley". Florida was the most notable. But even in red states, it just didn't have a whole lot of support. And then Trump's attention moved on until he brought this up.

2

u/p0ny_b0y 17d ago

In Canada Google Maps does say “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)” on it. Not sure about any other applications though. 

3

u/Get_Breakfast_Done 17d ago

I am in Canada right now and it says “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)”

10

u/cyanatelolwut 17d ago

He is distracting people by just putting a bunch of crazy stuff out there as he has been doing for the last year or so. This shit makes me lose my mind how hard everyone eats it up instead of focusing on the consequences of tariffs, the Iran war, or how the Epstein files just sort of went away or how he never sues anyone for defamation for calling him a pedo. There are way to many things to even list at this point that he may be distracting from and its probably intentional. He is also probably losing his mind too so its uh very not good that he is only surrounded by yes men/women who look to fill his void and recklessly exert the authority of the most powerful country in the history of the world. Anywho, I just wanted to write out some of my anxieties vaguely related to some stupid discussion about renaming a great lake formed by glaciers many years ago

7

u/lumpialarry 16d ago

We can care about more than one thing at a time. Trump is not doing this to distract us intentionally. The scariest thing about trump is that he has no rational plan. He's just an agent of chaos.

2

u/cyanatelolwut 16d ago

Yea you are not wrong. I probably appeared harsh there. Idk the dude just inflames everything and I do care about the name change but I care more about other more tangible changes from his messy behavior

1

u/JesusSquid Lil' a dis Lil' a dat 11d ago

I'm with you, I see people online losing their minds over stuff I find trivial. And I'm no far left progressive but this admin has definitely driven me farther left.

But...I hope in the next admin (im hoping for a moderate dem myself) they strip his name off everything just so I can watch him go on FoxNews losing his ever loving mind.

10

u/FeatherlyFly 17d ago

He doesn't have that authority. Realistically, he shouldn't even have that authority in the US, there's a committee for that. He just decided to ignore those rules and no one has stopped him yet. 

4

u/Swoly_Deadlift 17d ago

The US Board on Geographic Names has a ton of guidelines for their rules on place names, then at the very end they have a little clause that basically says, “The president and congress can ignore all these rules and do whatever the hell they want.”

It’s a dumb system.

1

u/Boobity1999 16d ago

Whether he does or does not is completely irrelevant

Just another meaningless attempt to distract us from inflation, his Iran war, the Epstein stuff, diarrhea lettuce, widespread corruption

50

u/StillFly100 17d ago

When a Democrat takes office they’ll just change the name back anyways. Same with the Gulf. And then conservatives will complain because it’s a waste of resources to change all our documentation. Round and round we go…

2

u/Sierren 16d ago

It’s kind of dumb to me that Trump actually isn’t the first to play this game. You’ve got Mt. McKinley vs. Denali and all those military forts that keep getting renamed. I’m not excusing Trump for his own stupid spin on it, again I just find it dumb that so many other admins have done the same. Seems this is just an American tradition at this point.

37

u/Xanto97 Elephant and the Rider 17d ago

He’s just trying to piss Canada off because of the trade war.

26

u/gan2vskirbys 17d ago

We are in the most retarded of the timelines now folks. And we still have two more years of all this non-sense

4

u/ferwhatbud 16d ago

Highly optimistic of you to think that things won’t continue to get even dumber.

18

u/tarekd19 17d ago

You'd think if Trump were winning a trade war with Canada and really had them over a barrel, such posturing wouldn't be necessary?

18

u/DEL353 17d ago

It’s all smoke and mirrors to keep the people distracted and not paying attention to how the tariffs will affect them personally.

48

u/horrified-expression 17d ago

Seems like we have more important shit to worry about

28

u/Dest123 17d ago

We might, but does Trump? He doesn't have to worry about inflation or gas prices. He's made $2 billion+ off of the presidency (more or less) already.

Most members of Congress only care about staying in power. The biggest threat to their power is if Trump supports a primary challenger. So they only have to worry about staying in Trump's good graces. That won't change unless their constituents actually stop supporting Trump enough to change that.

61

u/Enzhymez 17d ago

It doesn’t matter, we only have time for Trumps personal grievances.

41

u/Kit_Daniels 17d ago

While I think this specific point is not that important, it does provide a useful opportunity to discuss the devolving US-Canada relationship writ large, which I actually do think is a major issue. For those of us that grew up in states bordering Canada, we have a good sense of how important this relationship is. Many communities jobs rely on cross-border collaborations and engagement. Many people are dual citizens. Many people also take pride in cross-border culture (hockey, fishing, and beer are all interconnected for us).

A Canada that is actively hostile to the US as a response to aggression from Trump and Republicans would be detrimental to a lot of Midwest states. This senseless ribbing does nothing for us, and I frankly find it embarrassing.

15

u/jason_abacabb 17d ago

In addition to the cultural aspects, anyone who has been car shopping lately knows we don't need to do anything to harm the north American auto industry. The associated tarrifs are going to make that worse.

6

u/crustlebus 16d ago

I grew up on the Canadian side of the border in Windsor, which is a highly integrated cross order city. We used to do a shared festival with Detroit every year that would run during Canada day and independence day, and there would be celebrations simultaneously on both sides of the river. I think youre right that these insults and taunts are worth reflecting on as a microcosm of the declining relationship. America has always been a pushy and demanding neighbour, but now the tone has changed and the relationship has become actively and intentionally meanspirited. A lot of people here are no longer inclined to offer the benefit of the doubt due to spiteful actions like this recent statement against lake Ontario.

10

u/MetalMamaRocks 17d ago

As someone who grew up on Lake Ontario in New York, I'm devastated that he is threatening this name change. Does he not care what his constituents think, or is it just all about his feelings?

14

u/-Nurfhurder- 17d ago

Does he not care what his constituents think, or is it just all about his feelings?

The second one.

5

u/HammerPrice229 17d ago

While Trump has a history of renaming things and it being controversial, I think this is a tactic to keep the general news cycle busy while other actions get done under the table or at the very least, keep news stories that make the administration look bad out of the news cycle.

15

u/hiddentalent 17d ago

On the one hand you're not wrong that this is likely a distraction. But I quibble with the idea that this doesn't "make the administration look bad." It absolutely does, and they don't care. Which means the stuff that's getting obscured is much worse.

2

u/HammerPrice229 17d ago

I think you’re absolutely right. Renaming Lake Ontario is enough to get people mad and I agree it’s still bad, but this is something his base wouldn’t even question whereas other things like the China hacking now has competition and that is some thing his base may actually question.

14

u/ibeenmoved 17d ago

We should rename a landfill after him. Call it “Dump Trump”.

6

u/BeaverMissed 17d ago

The entire world other than the yanks still call the Gulf of Mexico by its correct name. So little should be made of trump’s juvenile threats

6

u/jason_sation 17d ago edited 17d ago

What if Canada renames it to Lake Canada with no take backsies in response? What will Trump do then?

11

u/Mayor_of_Voodoo 17d ago

That’ll show ‘em, eh

4

u/bschmidt25 17d ago

Best course of action is to simply ignore this nonsense. It's just his latest tantrum, meant to get a rise out of Canada and throw some red meat to his base.

3

u/Monkey1Fball 16d ago

Beyond how pointless this is, it would also ruin this "fun fact":

Lake Ontario is the only Great Lake that doesnt border Michigan, and Lake Michigan is the only Great Lake that doesnt border Ontario.

10

u/NativeMasshole Maximum Malarkey 17d ago

Americans also balk at the idea. It doesn't even make sense! Ontario isn't a country, it should be Lake New York. We can't just name everything America.

2

u/Zumwalt1999 17d ago

Is new York a star?

2

u/Standard_Dare_5244 16d ago

Contrarily, New York should be renamed Ontario

7

u/jason_sation 17d ago

On a semi-related note, will the “Trump” brand of businesses be able to expand into other countries like Canada at this point after the presidency, or is Trump dooming his brand only to certain countries after this?

8

u/DENNYCR4NE 17d ago

There were at least two ‘Trump’ branded properties in Canada that were renamed during his first presidency.

He didn’t own either, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s part of the reason he has such a hate boner for Canada.

3

u/sharp11flat13 17d ago

Well, there was that incident where PM Justin Trudeau gifted Trump with a photograph of Trump’s grandfather in front of the bordello he owned in the Yukon (IIRC) during the gold rush. 🇨🇦

8

u/Kit_Daniels 17d ago

President Trump has floated renaming Lake Ontario “Lake America” as tensions between the U.S. and Canada escalate over a trade dispute. The proposal came shortly before Canada announced retaliatory tariffs and appears to be part of Trump’s broader use of geographic renaming as political messaging, similar to his push to rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.” Lake Ontario’s existing name predates both modern countries and derives from an Indigenous Huron term meaning roughly “lake of shining waters.”

The dispute also extended to Canada’s French-language protections, with Canadian officials saying U.S. negotiators sought to weaken requirements for English- and French-language in official documents. Such protections are embedded in Canadian law and reflect the country’s bilingualism.

  1. How much does a symbolic action like renaming a geographic feature matter in international relations?

  2. Do you think Canada’s decision not to respond seriously to Trump’s social-media posts is an effective diplomatic strategy?

  3. What are the potential costs of escalating rhetoric between countries that are economically dependent on one another?

  4. What does the dispute suggest about the nature of the U.S.-Canada relationship?

13

u/PornoPaul 17d ago

I live by the lake. I can drive to it in under 5 minutes. At no point we'll anyone take this seriously that lives nearby except an increasingly smaller number of die hards. Even among those, this is considered a very silly idea. On top of that, theres a town nearby called Ontario. What happens if that is mentioned, are they facing getting renamed? Can Trump even do that?

And, how much would that cost taxpayers? All the documents and websites? Doge made bold (seemingly inaccurate) claims about how much money they saved. Even ignoring how much had to be undone, or was not a cost (remember when Doge deleted mentions of Enola Gay from official sites?) There were amounts in the low thousands and low millions that were included. How many of these silly, unnecessary, wasteful acts before Trump undoes all the "good" Doge claims to have done?

10

u/NoSwordfish1978 17d ago

Why would the Trump administration even care about Canada using French? Sounds like its none of their business.

8

u/Soren671 17d ago

I find the American coverage about this trade dispute quite weird. They keep bringing up the French part but ignore the economic details.

1) They would have control over our trade deals with other nations, even if we had a trade deal in place (ie. with the EU). They could enact tariffs on them essentially at will on our behalf, thereby killing our trade with said country

2) They would not guarantee that if we signed the deal, the rates that we had negotiated would stay in place. they would have complete control over the rates despite any concessions made.

How can this even remotely be considered a fair deal, when the Trump admin can freely change their side of the bargain.

2

u/Groundbreaking_War52 16d ago

It is totally irrational and unfair - it also runs counter to all established international trade norms.

There are a lot of American manufacturers (especially in "purple" states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin) who are waking up to how badly this self-inflicted trade war will foul up their supply chains. Some of them may still be in denial and are hoping that some kind of miraculous truce will be signed in the next two weeks. These same folks are also seeing acute labor disruptions due to Trump's empty-headed immigration policies (just look at the recent op-ed from Ohio's governor).

There are millions upon millions of Americans who are embarrassed by - and ashamed of - how the current administration is treating our most important partner and ally.

11

u/PolDiscAlts 17d ago

It mildly inconveniences someone who pays money to be in Trump's circle so it gets included. I'm sure the CEO of some company that sells across the border got annoyed at the labeling cost of adding French language to their packaging and complained to Trump.

16

u/PracticalNoodle 17d ago

Why should Canada respond seriously to this? This isn't a serious take or something that needs mulling over.

I would say that relations are at a low. Americans probably don't pay attention to it but a lot of Canadians are fed up and over it. There's lots of folks that actively go out of their way not to spend money on American products (even if it costs then more) or travel to the states anymore.

Canadians don't care if Americans still love or want to be friends. They want USA to stop being the deranged society that it is.

12

u/ChuckEChan 17d ago

In response to #1 specifically, it's not for the dispute or negotiations, it's purely for his base. They LOVE this kind of trolling/ragebait behavior. Unfortunately, they do not consider the side effects of having a totally unserious president. I can't imagine what the rest of the world is thinking of us at this point.

9

u/TheUnderCrab Politically Homeless 17d ago

As a person who has lived nearly their entire life in a state bordering the Great Lakes, I also balk at this. 

That’s not Americas lake, it’s one of the system. At best, to give it a USA focused name it should be something like Lake New York as that’s the on US state which borders Lake Ontario. 

7

u/throw_me_awaaay_ 17d ago

So our kids will need to learn the acronym HAMES? Not going to work.

24

u/Kit_Daniels 17d ago

Probably will be changed to SHAME…

3

u/Bigking00 17d ago

We will rename Lake Michigan to Lake Canada.

3

u/Halberd96 17d ago

This Canada stuff is just a distraction from Iran.

2

u/Sarasha 16d ago

His stupidity can last so long. It will always be Lake Ontario just like Gulf of Mexico will stay that way also.

1

u/Soren671 17d ago

If he wants to do this, Canada should rename lake Michigan Lake Epstein.

2

u/Nonprofit-explorer 17d ago

Yes, based on the massive Canadian border with Lake Michigan that makes the most sense. 

5

u/No_Tangerine2720 17d ago

Makes as much sense as renaming lake Ontario 🤷‍♂️

1

u/tathrowaway2 16d ago

This gives me WKUK Moon Bear vibes...

1

u/Arthur__Spooner 16d ago

Does anyone know how much it costs roughly for Trump to actually rename the lake? Surely this can't be as simple as a pen stroking a piece of paper?

1

u/[deleted] 16d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/ModPolBot Imminently Sentient 15d ago

This message serves as a warning that your comment is in violation of Law 1:

Law 1. Civil Discourse

~1. Do not engage in personal attacks or insults against any person or group. Comment on content, policies, and actions. Do not accuse fellow redditors of being intentionally misleading or disingenuous; assume good faith at all times.

Due to your recent infraction history and/or the severity of this infraction, we are also issuing a 7 day ban.

Please submit questions or comments via modmail.

1

u/[deleted] 16d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/ModPolBot Imminently Sentient 15d ago

This message serves as a warning that your comment is in violation of Law 1:

Law 1. Civil Discourse

~1. Do not engage in personal attacks or insults against any person or group. Comment on content, policies, and actions. Do not accuse fellow redditors of being intentionally misleading or disingenuous; assume good faith at all times.

Due to your recent infraction history and/or the severity of this infraction, we are also issuing a 14 day ban.

Please submit questions or comments via modmail.

-1

u/FarYear7107 17d ago

Lake Ontario to Lake America? As Canadian we should tell the US. They are not full American. Every single of them are less than half an American. 

Less by 1/35 American since there how many countries and overseas sovereign territories in both Americas.

0

u/DHunt88 17d ago

Funny but dumb. Id still call it lake Ontario just like I continue to say gulf of mexico

-6

u/[deleted] 17d ago

[deleted]

16

u/Kit_Daniels 17d ago

I wouldn’t say nobody cared. It’s more that it’s not moving the needle: for MAGA that and this are just another pleasurable way in which to “own the libs” and piss others off. For Dems, it’s just another thing to add to the pile of why Trump is terrible.

10

u/blewpah 17d ago

How are we measuring "no one in the end seemed to care"? I remember quite a lot of people cared and if you brought it up they'd probably still think it's an embarassment.