There is a U.S.-led war in the Middle East and the midterm elections on the horizon, but President Trump’s latest priority seems to be “Making The Great Lakes Even Greater.”
Katie Rogers, a White House correspondent, grew up visiting the shores of Lake Michigan, Lake Superior and Lake Huron, but she doesn’t play favorites.
Americans hadn’t seen President Trump in a few days, not since he diverted from an education policy event on Monday to give reporters a tour of the new helipad he is building on the South Lawn of the White House.
A curious citizen may wonder: What has Mr. Trump been up to in the days since we last saw our wartime president? What are his priorities?
We all got an answer on Thursday, when Mr. Trump decided to take a private event, previously billed as a “Signing Time” session on his daily schedule, and make it public. He beckoned reporters into the Oval Office, where he sat next to a large poster of the Great Lakes, which were displayed alongside the words “Making The Great Lakes Even Greater.”
This is not really possible, as the Great Lakes are perfect as they are. But Mr. Trump decided to bump renaming Lake Ontario to the top of his priority list anyway. With a flourish of his executive-order Sharpie, Mr. Trump rechristened the body of water Lake America, sticking it to the Canadians as trade negotiations continued to devolve.
This was only Mr. Trump’s latest maximally patriotic (and some may say, diplomatically petty) branding exercise meant to slight an old ally. On the first day of his second term, Mr. Trump pulled out that Sharpie and — Presto! — turned the Gulf of Mexico into the Gulf of America, as part of a broader effort to “honor American greatness.” On Thursday, Mr. Trump also mused that he would rename an ocean and complete the set.
As one of the five Great Lakes of North America, Lake Ontario didn’t ask for this. The lake existed peacefully long before humans arrived and started divvying up their shares. Now, there is a dividing line between the United States and Canada, drawn right through the pancreas-shaped body of water. Mr. Trump’s executive order asserts that the deepest waters of the lake are located in the United States, along with most of the lake’s volume.
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