‘My goodness gracious!’ CNN data guru Harry Enten shocked as U.S. favors Canada over Trump’s controversial lake rename
CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten was visibly in shock on Sunday, August 30, when he revealed that across all 50 states, Americans overwhelmingly continued searching for “Lake Ontario” more than Trump’s newly minted “Lake America.”
“Do Americans agree with him? Are they actually now calling it Lake America?” Enten asked. “Well, the early signs are no, Americans do not, in fact, agree with President Trump.”
“Since Thursday, I looked at the Google searches in all 50 states. And guess what? In every single one of them, all 50 states, a 50-state sweeperoo, more Americans are searching for Lake Ontario,” Enten added.
“It’s a completely different ballgame,” Enten went on, comparing Donald Trump‘s popularity to Canada’s. “My goodness gracious! Americans far more like Canada, dare I say love Canada, than … [they] despise the way that President Trump is dealing with Canada.”
Trump’s latest name change
Trump authorized the name change to Lake Ontario on Thursday, August 28, amid escalating trade tensions with Canada. The move came after failed negotiations between the two nations left tariffs imposed on both sides.
The Interior Department had received orders to update the Geographic Names Information System within 30 days, officially scrubbing all references to the historic lake’s name from federal databases.
However, Enten’s findings suggested the rebranding existed nowhere except on Trump’s executive order and in Trump’s mind.
Donald Trump’s popularity among Americans
Enten went further in his analysis, connecting the lake rename to a broader pattern of Trump’s unpopularity. According to recent polling data Enten cited, Trump’s net approval rating among Americans stood at negative 10 points. On the other hand, Canada’s favorability rating registered at positive 49 points among American respondents.
Which means nearly 60 percentage points separated Trump’s standing from Canada’s in the eyes of the American public.
Trump had built much of his 2024 campaign messaging around trade policy and protecting American interests against what he characterized as unfair international agreements.
Yet polling from this month revealed that independents opposed his tariffs on Canada.
Trump approves of Enten
In a Truth Social post, the president, however, was all praise for Enten after he analysed Trump’s popularity as a Republican president far outweighed Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagen.
“The best person on CNN is Pollster Harry Enten, because he was willing to show that Donald J. Trump is six times more popular than Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, or any other President.” he wrote.
“He’s got Credibility (Don’t fire him!). CNN can be turned around with new Leadership and Anchors (MSNOW cannot!), because a Great Brand can never truly be destroyed!”
Trump has not yet responded to Enten’s latest figures on his unpopularity.
Harry Enten’s past analysis of political trends
Enten’s Lake Ontario analysis follows months of similar data-driven reporting about public opinion’s divergence from Trump’s actions.
Earlier in July, he had delivered sweeping analysis of how Trump managed a historic reversal in U.S.-Canada relations.
“Canadians, they hate, hate, hate the United States of America,” Enten had said on air, describing it as a “wonderful magic trick” in which Trump transformed a longtime ally into an adversary.