In a fresh escalation of his confrontation with Canada, Donald Trump has taken the trade war into the realm of symbolism. The U.S. president signed an executive order on Thursday to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake of America,” with the change taking effect immediately. “We are changing the name of Lake Ontario, effective immediately, to Lake of America. The change will take effect immediately as I sign the order,” Trump declared. “From now on it will be known as Lake of America. Most of it is in the U.S.,” he added.
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Earlier in the week, Trump had already signaled his intention to rename Lake Ontario as tensions between Washington and Ottawa continued to mount. The move is part of the sustained pressure the Trump administration is applying on Canada, as the trade war between the two countries remains in full swing.
