Trump's Canada moves unpopular
Poll: Most Americans oppose trade fight
by: Jason Lange
Reuters
WASHINGTON -A majority of Americans oppose President Donald Trump's recent moves to raise taxes o imported Canadian goods and his order to rename Lake Ontario as "Lake America," a new Reuters/Ipsos poll found.
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The three-day poll, which concluded on August 30, [2026] showed Americans are wary of the feud with Canada - for decades a top U.S. trading partner - which has escalated since trade talks between the two countries collapsed and Trump ordered a hike in tariffs on Canadian goods.
..... Only 20% of poll respondents supported higher tariffs on Canadian goods compared to 57% who opposed them and 21% who couldn't say where they stood. About 1 in 5 poll respondents hadn't heard about the development.
..... U.S. households are already under financial pressure from the surge in gasoline prices since Trump launched a war on Iran in February, [2026] and American voters are the cost of living as the top issue determining how they will vote in November 3 [2026] midterm elections. Trump's Republican allies will be defending slim congressional majorities in the elections. Trump's approval rating in recent weeks has been mired at the lowest levee of his political career.
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The trade conflict took a theatrical turn when Trump on August 27 [2026] renamed Lake Ontario, one of the five Great Lakes of North America, as "lake America." Trump designation applies to U.S. federal usage about the lake, and does not govern what Canada, international; bodies or other organizations call the lake. The president has often ribbed Canada, threatening to annex the longtime ally as a 51st U.S. state. he ordered the Gulf of Mexico be renamed the "Gulf of America" at the stat of his second term in January 2025.
..... Just 14% of Americans in the Reuters/Ipsoso poll said they supported changing the name of lake Ontario, which has gone by that name for more than 400 years. Sixty-three percent of poll respondents opposed the name change and the rest were unsure or didn't answer the question.
..... The poll, which was conducted Online and nationwide, gathered responses from 1,023 U.S. adults and had a margin of error of 4 percentage points.