Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - In the latest escalation of tension between the United States and Canada over trade, U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday morning in a social media post he's considering changing the name of Lake Ontario to "Lake America".
The post continued to say that Trump doesn't expect to do much business with Ontario any longer.
"I can tell you I'm not surprised," said Niagara Falls, Ontario Mayor Jim Diodati. "He seems to have a lot of polarizing comments."
WBEN spoke with Diodati and others in the minutes after the President's post to get their reaction.
"I think if you re-name it 'Lake America', I'm as patriotic as anybody... I don't think it does anything necessarily as far as resolving this trade war," said State Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt, who represents areas of Western New York bordering Lake Ontario. "The reality is we do business with Ontario. There's a lot of mutual economic interest there. The trade war has certainly had an impact in my district."
Ortt says he had been hoping that negative impact was cooling. That was before the last 48 hours put things back on the front burner.
"I would like to know where is the point that we're trying to get to," Ortt said about the tariff threat. "Ultimately, negotiations and being tough in negotiations, that's all fine. We've got to re-balance when it comes to our relationship with Canada, but at the end of the day a healthy trade partnership that allows the free flow of goods across that is both fair to our workers and fair to our consumers I think is what we have to get to."
Both elected leaders are hopeful this is just posturing in negotiations, and not the new normal in relations between the two countries.
"It's just some political squabbling," Diodati said. "Mom and Dad are having an argument but the kids want this to end.
"That's what I feel like, one of the kids. I hope mom and dad will stop arguing."
Western New York Congressman Tim Kennedy (D, NY-26) released the following statement regarding Trump's "Lake America" comments:
“If Donald Trump spent half as much time trying to make life more affordable as he does trying to rename bodies of water, working families might actually be able to afford their rent, utility bills, and food costs. His pathetic proposal to rename Lake Ontario to “Lake America” proves what we already know him to be: a petty, vindictive, failed president.
“By declaring economic war on Canada, our strongest ally and New York’s largest trading partner, President Trump is waging that same war on border communities like Western New York, and we have been paying the price. Canadian tourism to New York is down 26 percent and Canadian spending is down 28 percent.
“After picking fights with our allies and losing illegal wars of choice with our adversaries, President Trump is cementing his place as the worst president in the history of our country. ”
