House Dems move to block Trump’s attempted renaming of Lake Ontario

A trio of House Democrats introduced legislation on Monday to block President Trump from renaming Lake Ontario as “Lake America” — which he signed an executive order to do so last week amid his trade war with Canada.

The legislation — titled the “ Hands Off Our Great Lakes Act ” — proposes prohibiting the president, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and federal officials acting under presidential authority from changing the names of the five Great Lakes: Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, Lake Huron and Lake Ontario.

“We filed all of the necessary papers, documents, everything else. We’ve notified all of the various people you have to notify,” the president said Thursday in the Oval Office.

The order noted the “deepest parts of the Lake’s waters” lie within U.S. territory . Lake Ontario borders New York and the Canadian province of Ontario.

Google Maps on Saturday changed the name of the body of water to Lake America on U.S. phones. The platform responded similarly to Trump’s order last year changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the “ Gulf of America .”

Democratic Reps. Debbie Dingell (Mich.), Timothy Kennedy (N.Y.) and Joseph Morelle (N.Y.) introduced the bill to block the latest move.

In addition to barring Trump from renaming any of the Great Lakes, the legislation proposed by Dingell, Kennedy and Morelle would block administration officials from using federal funds to implement the president’s executive order.

All three lawmakers blasted Trump for attempting to rename the lake, with Kennedy saying the move is “unserious” and “adds insult to injury as Trump’s tariffs drive up costs” for imported goods.

“Our families, workers, and businesses need an administration focused on lowering costs and strengthening our economy, not distractions,” Kennedy added in a joint release . “Renaming a lake won’t put food on the table, lower anyone’s bills, or create a single job. It is a pathetic attempt to distract from an affordability crisis that this President has failed to fix.”

Dingell also said preventing Trump from renaming Lake Ontario may compel the president to “turn his attention to his reckless trade war that is raising costs and threatening American workers.”

Morelle said of the president’s order, “This is ridiculous, it’s embarrassing, and it’s exactly the kind of unserious distraction Americans are tired of.”

Trump’s 50 percent import taxes on $27.6 billion worth of goods imported from Canada went into effect this month. The levies impact 5 percent of imported goods from America’s second-largest trading partner.

Canada’s “dollar for dollar” retaliatory tariffs will go into effect next week, as U.S. goods will face rates of 15, 25 or 50 percent — with the rate for each product matching the rate imposed by the Trump administration.