Bryan Adams challenges Trump over Lake Ontario name change in new song

Canadian rock musician Bryan Adams has turned Donald Trump’s effort to rename Lake Ontario into the subject of a new song, challenging the US president over a decision that has drawn ridicule in Canada. In Lake Ontario, Adams accuses Trump of disrupting peaceful relations between communities on either side of the body of water shared by the two countries.

Trump signed an executive order in August instructing US federal agencies to use the name Lake America. That followed his earlier decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, which was also widely mocked. The Lake Ontario order added to a dispute with Canada that has put pressure on the countries’ longstanding alliance.

The lake has carried several names over the centuries, including Lac Saint-Louis, Lacus Ontarius, Skaniadorio and Cataraqui Lake. Canadian responses to Trump’s order have included reminders that Ontario took its provincial name from the lake. Adams draws on that history in his lyrics, emphasising the name’s First Nations origins and its connection to the Iroquois description of shining waters.

The song also presents the renaming initiative as an attempt to divert attention from other difficulties facing Trump. Its lyrics link the decision to the war in Iran and renewed scrutiny of the Jeffrey Epstein files, suggesting that the president was seeking a distraction as those issues attracted attention.

Lake Ontario belongs to a larger songwriting project that Adams described in a recent interview as a “love letter” to Canada. The work began when a film company invited him to write about the country’s Maritime provinces. From that initial assignment, he continued writing songs around the Canadian theme, eventually developing the project into his forthcoming album, How’s It Goin’.

Alongside tributes to Canadian heroes, the album features 51st State, another song opposing Trump, this time over his efforts to annex Canada. Released on Canada Day, 1 July, it uses imagery of maple trees and a divided road to express resistance to the prospect of Canada becoming part of the United States.

Adams first performed 51st State publicly in the US, where he had been uncertain about the reception it would receive. Instead, he said, audiences gave the song standing ovations every night. He interpreted that response as a possible sign of shifting sentiment, saying it prompted him to wonder whether the tide was finally turning.