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President Donald Trump’s executive order renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America is drawing different reactions from New York Republicans, while Democrats argue the president should focus on rising costs amid the ongoing trade war with Canada.
Republican candidate for governor and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman brushed it off, while Western New York state Sen. George Borrello told Spectrum News 1 that he opposes the name change because he thinks it’s a distraction from actually addressing trade issues with Canada.
Despite Trump putting pen to paper and signing an executive order, Blakeman wants you to know that he thinks the whole thing is simply not that serious.
“It’s fun,” Blakeman said when asked about the cultural impact of the president unilaterally changing the name of a lake with a massive New York shoreline. “It’s not a serious thing. I don’t think anyone should take it serious.”
Blakeman made the comments to Spectrum News 1 while appearing with Onondaga County Republicans Friday.
The debate comes as New York Republicans continue to face questions over the president’s decisions in Washington and their impact back home. Earlier this week it was 50% tariffs going into effect after trade negotiations with Canadian officials broke down. In the latest escalation, it’s Lake America and how the idea of abandoning the name Ontario is sitting in a state that has significant ties to the lake and is home to the Indigenous people from whom the name comes.
Blakeman, who is a close ally of Trump and has his endorsement in the governor’s race, has worked to brush off questions about how the tariffs could affect New York farmers this week.
“I can’t say what’s going on in Washington,” he said.
Wednesday, in an interview with Capital Tonight, Blakeman also resisted discussing the economic impact of the tariffs — insisting the campaign for governor should focus on issues the executive can control and blasting Gov. Kathy Hochul’s economic policy.
While Blakeman may see it as all in good fun, some Republicans are openly unhappy with the name change. State Sen. George Borrello, who supports tariffs in general, said he agrees with Blakeman that the move gives off a satirical air, but the discourse around it gets in the way of the president’s stated objective.
“I think it’s a distraction from some very serious issues between the U.S. and Canada when it comes to trade. The Canadians have been engaged in very unfair trade practices for a long time,” Borrello said.
If Blakeman thinks the idea is fun, his opponent, Hochul, does not. She argued this week that the focus should be on returning to the negotiating table with Canadian officials.
“If we have higher prices because of a war with Canada, you’re going to feel it directly and you’re going to say, ‘why are we doing this?’” Hochul said.
And if Borrello thinks the name change is a distraction, Democratic U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand agrees on the distraction part — though her criticism lies with Trump’s economic policies, not the Canadians.
“President Trump should be focused on getting grocery prices down, making sure families can get food. The fact that he’s driving prices up with the war in Iran,” Gillibrand said.
Then there is New Yorkers’ own relationship with the lake, its history and their northern neighbors.
State Sen. Jeremy Cooney, a Democrat who represents Rochester, pointed to connections that extend beyond the border.
“We have a strong connection to the name itself, and of course its roots with the Indigenous people who lived on both sides of the lake, but we also have this identity with Canada. So many of our friends and family have relationships,” Cooney said.
Borrello, a member of the Senate’s State-Native American Relations Committee, said he does not think the Trump administration fully considered the impact on Indigenous communities.
“Personally, it is something that also respects Indigenous culture, so it’s not a choice I would have made,” Borrello said.
