Tiffany Splits with Trump on Renaming Lake Ontario

Rep. Tom Tiffany, who is running for Wisconsin governor, speaks before President Donald Trump arrives at a roundtable event Friday, June 5, 2026, in Chippewa Falls, Wis. Angela Major/WPR

Republican candidate for governor Tom Tiffany said Thursday he doesn’t support President Donald Trump renaming Lake Ontario as a trade war intensifies with Wisconsin’s biggest trading partner.

Trump signed an executive order that directs the Interior Secretary and Board on Geographic Names to update the lake’s name to “Lake America.”

At a Thursday campaign event in Green Bay, the GOP congressman and Trump-backed candidate for Wisconsin’s governor told reporters that the names of the Great Lakes should remain unchanged.

“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 joked.

Tiffany’s remarks come as a new Marquette poll shows Democrat and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley leading Tiffany by five points among likely voters. However, Crowley’s advantage shrinks when polling all registered voters. Tiffany shares close ties with Trump, who has record low approval ratings.

Trump had been considering the name change as trade talks collapsed and the U.S. imposed 50 percent tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods over the weekend. On Tuesday, Canada responded with about $20 billion in retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports that take effect on Sept. 8. They target steel and aluminum, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, plastics and electronics among other items.

“If this is the issue that gives Congressman Tom Tiffany the courage to stand up to Donald Trump, then he does not have what it takes to lead our state forward,” Crowley said, adding the new round of tariffs would result in retaliation and pain for Wisconsin farming communities.

Canada is the top market for exports of Wisconsin agricultural products, totaling $1.38 billion in 2025, which was down nearly 5 percent from 2024 as the Trump administration has imposed tariffs.

Last year, Wisconsin exported roughly $7.5 billion worth of goods to Canada while importing $5.7 billion, according to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. The nation was the largest purchaser of Wisconsin paper products last year, accounting for more than two thirds of $762.9 million in exports.

Gov. Tony Evers blasted Trump and Republicans in a statement this week over the tariffs.

“Time and time again, President Trump and Republicans are causing costs to go up and making life even harder for ranchers, farmers and producers across America, including here in America’s Dairyland,” Evers said Monday.

Evers is also a member of the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors & Premiers, which works to protect the Great Lakes and the region’s nearly $9.3 trillion economy. He made light of Trump’s order renaming Lake Ontario in a social media post Thursday.

Canadian officials have dismissed Trump’s renaming bid, including Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. In a social media post on X, he noted the Indigenous origins of Lake Ontario that predates the Confederation of Canada and Declaration of Independence.

“Canadians also know that naming reality means calling it Lake Ontario — then, now and always,” Carney wrote.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford echoed that sentiment, saying it’s Lake Ontario “now and forever.”

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson is chair of the board for the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, a group representing mayors and Indigenous leaders in the region. Under the name change, he noted the acronym for the Great Lakes would change from “HOMES” to “SHAME.” He said the president is “screwing” Great Lakes states by imposing tariffs on Canada.

“We should be still negotiating with the Canadians,” Johnson said. “Certainly, a huge trading partner for us in the state of Wisconsin, and for other Midwestern states, Great Lakes states. We should be trying to make this work, not trying to twist the knife or trying to further aggravate.”

Sheboygan Mayor Ryan Sorenson, the group’s past board chair, said he hopes U.S. and Canadian leaders can focus on hammering out a trade deal.

“I think the nonsense of changing names of lakes that no one’s asking for isn’t productive. It just comes across as very petty,” Sorenson said. “To not figure this out, especially with our neighboring country to the north of us, is hurting folks right here in our neck of the woods.”

The nonprofit Midwest Economic Policy Institute and the Project for Middle Class Renewal at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign released a report in July on the effects of tariffs in the Midwest. The report found tariffs imposed by the Trump administration last year raised average household costs by more than $2,000 in the Midwest and $1,500 in Wisconsin.

The report also found tariffs reduced Wisconsin’s manufacturing employment by 6,100 jobs.

Tiffany splits with Trump on renaming Lake Ontario amid growing trade tensions was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.