Trump Renamed Lake Ontario. Claudia Tenney Has Nothing to Say.

It's been almost a week since the executive order, and Rep. Tenney's office still hasn't answered a single request for comment.

President Trump signed an executive order on August 27 renaming Lake Ontario to "Lake America," tying the move to his escalating trade war with Canada. Within days it became a Rep. Claudia Tenney - Lake Ontario story too, since her NY-24 congressional district borders the water Google Maps now labels "Lake America" for U.S. users. Almost a week later, Rep. Tenney still hasn't said a word about it.

It Was "Lake Ontario" for 400 Years Before Trump

Trump had been floating the idea for days before he made it official. Standing in the Oval Office flanked by two large boards reading "Lake America," he said the change was "effective immediately" and framed it as payback for what he called years of Canada "ripping us off" on trade. The executive order argues that because the lake's deepest waters sit within U.S. territory, "the United States claims most of the Lake's volume," and it directs Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to scrub "Lake Ontario" from the federal Geographic Names Information System within 30 days.

It's the same playbook Trump used renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. And like that, this only affects the U.S. government. The rest of the world doesn't have to follow along, as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney pointed out on social media, noting that the name predates both the United States and Canada by roughly 400 years, back to the Wendat word Ontari'io.

From Rep. Claudia Tenney...Silence

This is the part that should matter most to Tenney's NY-24 constituents. When the president renames the lake people live on, fish in and make a living from, you'd expect their representative - Claudia Tenney - to raise objections. No.

Instead, there's only silence. WKBW, the Buffalo ABC affiliate, reported on August 29 that its reporters reached out to Tenney's office for comment on Trump's executive order. No response from Tenney. No comment when Google changed its map. No comment when a city council in her district passed a proclamation objecting to the change. No comment when Rep. Kennedy submitted his bill in Congress. No comment, only silence.

To be fair, plenty of members of Congress stay quiet on stories outside their committee assignments. But this is the lake her own district borders.

Meanwhile, Nearly Everyone Else Has Weighed In

The list of people who found something to say about "Lake America" keeps growing. Rochester's City Council unanimously approved a proclamation committing to keep using "Lake Ontario" in official city business, calling the renaming a "desperate and flaccid stunt by the President." Oswego's Republican mayor said his city won't recognize the new name either. Seneca Nation President J.C. Seneca pointed to the lake's Indigenous roots, noting its name in Seneca, sga:nyodai:yoh, means "beautiful lake," and called on Trump to reconsider. Even Ontario's premier got in on it, planting a giant "Lake Ontario" sign in response.

In Congress, Democratic Rep. Tim Kennedy joined two fellow Great Lakes lawmakers to introduce the "Hands Off Our Great Lakes Act," which would undo the renaming and bar future presidents from unilaterally renaming any of the Great Lakes. Whether Tenney would vote for a bill like that is an open question. So far, she hasn't said.