U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order that he said would have the U.S. refer to Lake Ontario as “Lake America” “effective immediately,” his latest shot at Canada after trade talks fell apart last week.
Trump, speaking in the Oval Office after signing the order, took the opportunity to once again criticize Canada’s trade policies and leadership but insisted he loves the country and that renaming Lake Ontario was not about sending a message.
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The U.S. president equated the move to his order for the U.S. to call the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” last year — a move that has not been recognized by the rest of the world. Even U.S.-based Google has opted to put the “Gulf of America” name in parenthesis after the original name in Google Maps.
Experts have told Global News that Canada and the rest of the world are under no obligation to recognize Trump’s order, noting the name Lake Ontario appeared on maps more than a century before the U.S. declared independence and long before there was a province called Ontario.
More to come…