Sports broadcaster Al Michaels appeared to poke fun at President Donald Trump’s erroneous decision to rename Lake Ontario during a recent NFL game.
“That is Lake Erie. We think it is still called Lake Erie on the right,” Michaels, 81, said as an aerial shot of Ohio’s Huntington Bank Field was showcased on Prime Video’s Thursday, August 27, broadcast of the New England Patriots and Cleveland Browns preseason game.
“We’re not quite sure at this point,” the legendary sportscaster continued. “But we’ll be by Lake something like Ontario or whatever it’s going to be called by the time we get to Buffalo [for Week 2].”
Michaels added, “Anyway, you know what I’m talking about, some of you do. Read the news.”
Just days earlier, Trump, 80, claimed he has the authority to rebrand Lake Ontario as the so-called “Lake America.”
“The United States is giving serious consideration to changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America in that we don’t expect to be doing much business with Ontario any longer,” he wrote via TruthSocial on Tuesday, August 25. “Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP.”
On Thursday, Trump confirmed he would be signing an executive order granting him what he claims is the authority to rename the smallest of the five Great Lakes as part of an escalating trade feud with Canada.
Google Maps has since changed the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America” for U.S. users to reflect Trump’s executive order, according to a Google statement obtained by Reuters.
“Since we update Google Maps to reflect name changes in official government sources, which is GNIS for the U.S., people using Maps in the U.S. will see ‘Lake America,’” Google said in a blog post on Saturday, August 29. “Those in Canada will continue to see ‘Lake Ontario,’ and those outside of the U.S. and Canada will see both names.”
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has since rejected the lake’s so-called name change.
“The name of Lake Ontario derives from the Wendat word « Ontari’io », which means « the lake is beautiful, the lake is great ». This name dates back more than 400 years, well before the Canadian Confederation and the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America,” Carney, 61, wrote via X on Thursday. “We know that the United States is changing. Their trade relations, their foreign policy, their national monuments, their hydronyms. Canadian women and men also know that things must be called by their name, and this lake is called Lake Ontario — today and forever.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said that “New York won’t be calling it” Lake America, while Vermont Gov. Phil Scott called Trump’s decision “petty and disappointing” on social media.
“We should be at the negotiating table, finding a path forward that strengthens both the U.S. and Canadian economies,” Scott, 68, wrote via X on Thursday. “Further escalating tensions does nothing to help American or Canadian families and businesses.”
