State lawmaker calls on Trump to rename Lake Erie as ‘Lake Pennsylvania’

Pennsylvania Lawmaker Urges Trump to Rebrand Lake Erie

Provpnadvice.com – Pennsylvania State Rep. David Maloney, a Republican, is asking President Trump to give Lake Erie a new name: “Lake Pennsylvania.” The proposal centers on the state’s comparatively small but important connection to the Great Lakes system, with Maloney arguing that Pennsylvania deserves a stronger identity tied to its northern shoreline.

Lake Erie touches Pennsylvania along a narrow stretch near Erie, providing the commonwealth with its sole direct Great Lakes coastline. That access supports recreation, tourism, boating and fishing, while also connecting local communities to a much larger regional waterway shared by the United States and Canada.

“This is Pennsylvania’s only Great Lake. Its modern economy and identity are increasingly tied to the boaters, anglers, families and tourists who come to enjoy it,” Maloney said in a statement.

Maloney contrasted Pennsylvania’s position with that of neighboring jurisdictions that have more extensive Great Lakes connections. Ohio has a larger Lake Erie shoreline, New York borders two of the Great Lakes, and Canada is linked to four others.

“Pennsylvania has one. Let’s call it Lake Pennsylvania,” he added.

A Symbolic Push Focused on Pennsylvania’s Lakefront

The request is aimed at Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, whom Maloney asked to carry out the proposed change. While the initiative is framed around a name, it also highlights the role Lake Erie plays in Pennsylvania’s regional identity. For the Erie area, the lake is not simply a geographic boundary; it is a central feature of outdoor activity, visitor travel and waterfront life.

Lake Erie is the shallowest of the Great Lakes and has the smallest volume in the five-lake system, the Environmental Protection Agency says. Its watershed includes roughly 12 million residents: about 10.5 million in the United States and 1.9 million in Canada. The lake’s broad reach means any discussion of its name also touches communities far beyond Pennsylvania’s shore.

Maloney’s suggestion follows other naming proposals and actions associated with Trump. The president signed an executive order formally renaming another Lake Ontario as “Lake America” amid continuing trade tensions with Canada. He has also floated changing the name of New Mexico to “New America,” prompting criticism from several Democratic lawmakers in that state.

Trade Tensions Add a Wider Cross-Border Context

The Lake Erie proposal arrives as the relationship between the United States and Canada has been shaped by an ongoing trade dispute. Canada’s retaliatory tariffs took effect Tuesday, and Pennsylvania is expected to feel significant effects from tariff rates of 15 percent, 25 percent and 50 percent applied to roughly 6 percent of U.S. exports sent to Canada last year.

Canada is Pennsylvania’s largest export destination. In 2025, the state shipped $13.9 billion in goods to Canada, representing 27 percent of all Pennsylvania goods exports, figures from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative show. That commercial connection places the commonwealth in a distinctive position when political debates involve Canadian trade, border policy or shared natural resources.

Lake Erie itself is inherently international. The waterbody is shared by the United States and Canada, and its watershed spans multiple states as well as Ontario. A state-focused name would therefore carry symbolic weight beyond Pennsylvania, even if it is intended to draw attention to the commonwealth’s place within the Great Lakes region.

For supporters of Maloney’s idea, “Lake Pennsylvania” would emphasize that the state has a Great Lakes presence despite possessing far less shoreline than Ohio or New York. For critics, the longstanding Lake Erie name reflects a geographic feature whose history and importance extend across state and national borders.

The proposal has not changed the lake’s established name. Still, it has placed renewed attention on Pennsylvania’s short Lake Erie coastline and the outsized role it plays for the communities that rely on it for recreation, tourism and a sense of place.