Saying “no” to the president of the United States is never easy, and it must be even harder for the spineless sycophants in Donald Trump’s administration. But someone should have found a diplomatic way to tell Trump that his petulant executive order changing the name of “Lake Ontario” to “Lake America” is a terrible idea.
Trump announced his executive order after trade talks between the U.S. and Canada collapsed. It’s unlikely that needling Ottawa and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney over nomenclature would ever go over well. But his antics in this unnecessary trade war seem certain to upset Americans when we’re already stuck in an unnecessary war in the Middle East that’s continuing to cause prices to rise.
In a more serious White House, the idea of renaming one of the Great Lakes wouldn’t have even come up.
In a more serious White House, the idea of renaming one of the Great Lakes wouldn’t have even come up. On the off chance it did, it would have been shot down faster than an Iranian drone over the Strait of Hormuz. (Not least because the U.S. is running very low on the munitions that feat requires.)
But at Thursday’s signing, recently appointed Staff Secretary Ben Moss told reporters the order was “straightforward but important.” Deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller smirked in the background. On display was a poster reading “Making the Great Lakes Even Greater.” The order in question, which reads as if an AI chatbot was asked to describe the U.S.’ history with Lake Ontario, bears all the hallmarks of a Trump rush job.
After the terrible idea became ridiculous policy, the federal government kicked into high gear. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum signed a Thursday memo ordering the U.S. Board of Geographic Names to act. (The memo seemingly cited the wrong executive order as its legal authority.) By Friday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey’s website had announced that the maps in its Geographic Names Information System were “in the process of being updated to reflect this name change.”
We can glean a few things from this sideshow beyond his staff’s willingness to praise the emperor’s stylish new “Lake America” ensemble.
Let’s start with Trump’s obsession with branding. He spent much of his career appending “Trump” to buildings he didn’t build in lucrative licensing deals. In this second term as president, he’s fought to add his name to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Much like the “Gulf of America” executive order on his first day back in office, Thursday’s order feels like a desperate attempt at getting his followers to associate “America” with “Trump.”
Trump also tends to lash out and attempt to exert control when he feels most powerless. Carney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford decided to stand 10 toes down against U.S. negotiators in the face of looming tariffs, rejecting an overwhelmingly unbalanced offer from the American representatives. In response, Trump ordered the government to provide a bandage for his wounded ego, even as he likely views this order as a power move reestablishing his dominance over Ottawa.
But that leads us to the last point: Trump is a leader who becomes deeply frustrated whenever he can’t force everyone to follow him. Carney and Ford have already roundly rejected the prospect of accepting the lake’s name change, and nothing in international law can force them to do so. The president’s threats and bullying references to making their country into the 51st state have only prompted Canadian leaders to make the trade talks about protecting Canada’s sovereignty. There’s no way Trump’s petty outburst helps when 76% of Canadians polled support Carney’s decision to walk away from the negotiations.
Trump also tends to lash out and attempt to exert control when he feels most powerless.
Trump could decide Lakes Huron, Erie and Superior will be called Lakes MAGA, Donald and Trump on American maps, and it wouldn’t shift Carney’s stance a centimeter. (Lake Michigan, which shares the name of a swing state and is entirely inside the U.S., is probably safe.) And, importantly, an updated map will be small comfort to the Americans who associate the high price of goods like toilet paper with Trump’s overly domineering approach to the (former dominion) of Canada.
This name change is more insulting than threatening, more inane than likely to spark a new round of trade talks. The only way Trump’s move could hurt Canada is if Carney hurts himself laughing at the impotence it suggests. There’s simply no way for the administration to rebrand this trade war as anything but a loss — except maybe (maybe) for mapmakers hoping to cash in on the change.
The post What Trump’s ‘Lake America’ rebrand says about his presidency appeared first on MS NOW.
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