In terms of parallel logic, Trump should have renamed Lake Ontario to Lake New York, not Lake America. It isn’t called Lake Canada!
The parallel is deeper than logic. Populism means localism above all.
Real populists are loyal to their own place first, then secondarily to nations and not at all to planets. A real populist born in New York would enjoy naming things after New York.
Taft was loyal to Ohio and even looked like Ohio. He was a Car Guy and an Airplane Guy because Ohio was the Car State and the Airplane State at that time. He didn’t insult other states and didn’t sanction them or bomb them.
Truman was loyal to Missouri and made a BIG point of doing Missouri things. He was also a Car Guy and bought a Stafford made in KC. He won in 1948 because farm states felt more comfy with a Missourian than New York Dewey.
The New Deal managed to be localist everywhere without being globalist. WPA and TVA maintained local traditions and skills, shaping houses and organizations to resonate with local senses.
A president with a sense of place gives placey people a reason to like him. I felt at home with Obama even though he was nominally from Hawaii and Chicago. I found out later that his mother and I lived in Ponca at the same time in the early 50s, and his grandpa worked at the furniture store where my parents bought their furniture.
Polistra's Mill 