Trump's Canada antagonism vexes Americans
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A map labeling Lake Ontario as "Lake America" is displayed as President Trump signs an executive order during an event in the Oval Office on Aug. 27. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
President Trump's order renaming Lake Ontario to "Lake America" isn't floating with Americans, with a majority opposing the name change and his new tariffs on Washington's northern neighbor, per recent polling.
The big picture: After trade talks between the longtime allies collapsed last month and triggered steep new tariffs, the Trump administration has escalated its feud with Canada.
- With the midterm elections creeping closer, polling suggests Americans aren't sold on the fight.
Driving the news: Reuters-Ipsos polling from late August found that more than 6 in 10 (63%) of Americans oppose Trump's executive order directing Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to rename the lake, which straddles the U.S.–Canada border.
- Even among Republicans, more opposed (43%) than supported (33%) the order.
- A vast majority of Democrats (84%) and independents and other parties (65%) opposed the name change.
The other side: In response to the polling, the White House lambasted Canada in a statement to Axios.
- "Canada has been a bad neighbor by ripping off our country for years," wrote spokesperson Taylor Rogers. "President Trump promised voters that he would not allow our country to be taken advantage of anymore, which is why he is fighting so hard to protect American industries and workers."
Zoom out: An Economist–YouGov survey of 1,592 U.S. citizens similarly found that 68% oppose changing the lake's name — a sentiment shared by 43% of 2024 Trump voters.
- Just 36% of Trump voters approve.
Friction point: Despite the opposition, Apple and Google both changed their map labels on the body of water — for U.S. users, at least.
- Google said it did so to match updates from the U.S. Geographic Names Information System. The company's statement said those in Canada will continue to see "Lake Ontario," while the rest of the world will see both names.
- Apple made the switch after Trump personally appealed to the tech giant, Burgum told Fox Business earlier this week.
Zoom out: Trump's new tariffs on Canada are also unpopular: 57% oppose them, while just 20% support them, and 21% aren't sure.
- Canada is set to retaliate against the new 50% U.S. tariff on some $20 billion of Canadian goods.
- Democrats (82%) and independents (59%) oppose the levies. More Republicans support the tariffs than oppose them (44% v. 33%), but 22% say they don't know how they feel.
The bottom line: On social media and in trade policy, the Trump administration isn't showing signs of backing off of its quarrel with Canada.
- But if you ask Americans, more say it's America who's responsible for the trade war (46%) than Canada (12%). Plus, just 4% say it will have a positive impact on their personal finances.
The fine print: Ipsos surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,023 adults between Aug. 28-30, 2026. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
Go deeper: Scoop: Dems plan bill to counter Trump's "Lake America" order
