House Republican ‘pretty sure’ Lake Ontario name change ‘a troll’

Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) said President Trump’s decision to change the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America” is likely a “troll,” casting doubt on whether the new name will stick even as the federal government and major mapping services move to adopt it.

“I’m pretty sure this is a troll,” Tenney, whose district covers much of New York’s Lake Ontario shoreline, told TMZ when asked whether businesses in her district should begin switching over to the new name.

Trump signed an executive order last week directing the Interior Department and U.S. Board on Geographic Names to rename the Great Lake, which is shared with Canada.

The move came amid a rapidly escalating trade war between the U.S. and Canada after negotiations between the two longtime allies fell apart . Trump imposed a 50 percent tariff on $20 billion worth of Canadian imports and floated the name change shortly after the failed negotiations.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, in turn, announced retaliatory, “dollar-for-dollar” tariffs effective Sept. 8.

When asked what she would tell businesses in her 24th Congressional District that are trying to decide which name to use, the Republican said locals appear to be sticking with Lake Ontario for now.

“I think a lot of our counties are just staying right now on course because they don’t know if this is really a permanent thing or really just a part of a kind of hardball negotiations going on between the president and the prime minister in Canada,” Tenney said.

“I don’t know how permanent people think this is right now,” she added. “I mean, name changes come and go.”

Tenney suggested Trump’s executive order was likely made to provoke Canada rather than permanently rebrand the Great Lake.

“Trump, you know, likes to troll people and put out name changes,” she said. “We’ll see how long this lasts.”

On his first day back in office, Trump signed executive orders changing the name of several landmarks, including the controversial change from the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America.”

Canada has since rejected the lake’s name change, which does not require Canada or other countries to stop using the name Lake Ontario.

The new name has nonetheless begun appearing in the U.S. Google Maps and Apple Maps services both switched to Lake America for its U.S. users after the name was updated in the federal geographic database.