President Donald Trump’s announcement Tuesday morning that he is giving “serious consideration” to renaming\u00a0Lake\u00a0Ontario to “Lake America”\u00a0mirrors his move to rename the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America early in his second term.<\/p>\n
But just like the Gulf of Mexico,\u00a0Lake\u00a0Ontario\u00a0is a shared international waterway and multiple international, federal, and regional agencies oversee it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Split along the U.S.-Canada border, New York State and\u00a0Ontario\u00a0each govern their own portion of the\u00a0lakebed and shoreline. The U.S. and Canada jointly manage it through the International Joint Commission and Great\u00a0Lakes Water Quality Agreement.<\/p>\n
And just like the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico, Trump can unilaterally change a geographic name for official U.S. federal government use, like his action via executive order in that case — but he doesn’t have the authority to dictate what other countries or international bodies call it.<\/p>\n
![\"America\"](\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/3534b99d-da01-4241-a26a-39b867b1aa0e\/carney-trump-1-ap-gmh-260825_1787664702311_hpEmbed_3x2.jpg?w=375 "\\"America\\"")
<\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div>President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney meet in the Oval Office of the White House, Oct. 7, 2025, in Washington.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Evan Vucci\/AP<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Trump on Tuesday also rejected Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s claims that the U.S. was making threats on\u00a0Canada’s use of\u00a0the French language, as opposed to English, as part of the ongoing trade war<\/a>. Trump said on social media that he would “never interfere with Canadians speaking French.”<\/p>\n “I have never even thought of doing such a stupid thing. This lie was made up by a weak and ineffective Prime Minister in an attempt to gain political support, which he has totally lost, from the people of Quebec. I love French Canadians!” Trump posted on his social media platform.\u00a0<\/p>\n During a press conference on Saturday, Carney claimed that one of the reasons the trade talks with the U.S. collapsed is because the Trump administration wanted Canada to make changes to their use of the French language.\u00a0<\/p>\n “This was not our choice. We were ready and close to having a comprehensive agreement that would be fair to both countries. But they made changes, including threats on the French language and Quebec culture and Canadian culture. That is not acceptable. That would never be acceptable,” Carney said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n