Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI), the GOP gubernatorial nominee in Wisconsin, rejected President Donald Trump‘s order changing Lake Ontario’s name to “Lake America,” quipping that the only Great Lakes name change he would like to see is turning Lake Michigan into “Lake Wisconsin.”
“I believe the Great Lakes are the Great Lakes and should stay Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Ontario. I mean, unless you’re suggesting we name Lake Michigan Lake Wisconsin,” Tiffany told local news station WISN 12 at a campaign event on Thursday.
Tiffany clarified that his “Lake Wisconsin” remark was said “in jest,” but added that “the Great Lakes are Great Lakes, and we should leave them that way.” Wisconsin borders both Lake Michigan and Lake Superior.
His remarks come hours after Trump signed an executive order to change the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America” amid the Trump administration’s escalating trade war with Canada.
After trade negotiations between Canada and the United States collapsed last Friday, the Trump administration’s 50% tariffs on about $20 billion worth of Canadian goods hit the northern neighbor. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney counterpunched with “dollar-for-dollar” retaliatory tariffs, saying Canada was “attacked” by the U.S.
As tensions heightened over the reciprocal levies, Trump first threatened on Truth Social to change the name of the lake between New York and Ontario on Tuesday. Then on Thursday, he made the name change a reality, implementing the measure for the U.S. government.
Carney made it clear his government would not be following the U.S.’s lead, saying in response that Canadians “know that naming reality means calling it Lake Ontario — then, now and always.”
Tiffany is running in the “toss-up” gubernatorial race against the Democratic candidate, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, who defied much of the polling expectations in the Democratic primary to defeat socialist state Rep. Francesca Hong.
TRUMP SIGNED AN ORDER TO RENAME LAKE ONTARIO TO LAKE AMERICA — WHAT TO KNOW
Limited polling on the Tiffany-Crowley matchup has shown Crowley up by single digits.
Trump flipped Wisconsin in 2024, beating former Vice President Kamala Harris in the Badger State by less than a point.