Democratic Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has apparently joked he is renaming Lake Michigan as ‘Lake Illinois,’ and annexing Green Bay from neighboring Wisconsin, in an apparent attempt to poke fun at recent statements made by President Trump.
Pritzker, a frequent critic of the president, made the comments in a video posted to Instagram on Saturday. Newsweek contacted Governor Pritzker and Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, who is also a Democrat, for comment on Tuesday via online inquiry form and email respectively outside of regular office hours.
Why It Matters
Shortly after his January 20 inauguration, Trump signed an executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America and later announced that February 9 will be celebrated each year as “Gulf of America Day.”
Trump’s move to change the name of the gulf comes as he has also said he wants to purchase Greenland from Denmark, Canada to join the U.S. as a state, for the Panama Canal to be returned to American ownership and for the U.S. to “take over and own” the Gaza Strip.
If the United States adopts an openly expansionist foreign policy it would mark a sharp shift in the country’s policy since the end of World War II.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker attends the Clinton Global Initiative 2024 Annual Meeting at New York Hilton Midtown on September 24, 2024, in New York City.
John Nacion/GETTY
What To Know
In a video posted on his Instagram account, Pritzker said that the “world’s finest geographers” had concluded Lake Michigan should be “named after a great state,” and thus would be renamed as “Lake Illinois.”
Pritzker said the change had been “forwarded to Google to ensure the world’s maps reflect this momentous change” adding that following Trump’s comments about Greenland, Illinois would also now annex Green Bay, Wisconsin, to protect itself against enemies, foreign and domestic. He also promised an announcement next week “regarding the Mississippi River.”
While he did not state this openly Pritzker’s video appeared to be satirical. There are no indications the governor has made any serious efforts to have the lake renamed.
Lake Michigan is the second largest of the North American Great Lakes by volume, primarily bordering Michigan and Wisconsin along with small sections of Illinois and Indiana.
Google Maps has since renamed the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America for U.S. based users, though it retains its original name for those accessing the website from Mexico. For other countries it currently says: “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America).”
Trump first floated the idea of the U.S. purchasing Greenland during his first term, though this was swiftly rejected by the Danish government. Since winning the 2024 presidential election he has doubled down on this plan, telling journalists that Greenland’s 57,000 residents “want to be with us,” though polling indicates a substantial majority oppose becoming part of the U.S.
What People Are Saying
On Instagram, Pritzker said: “I’m here today to make an important announcement. The world’s finest geographers, experts who study the Earth’s natural environment, have concluded a decades long council and determined that a Great Lake deserves to be named after a great state. So today I’m issuing a proclamation declaring that hereinafter Lake Michigan shall be known as Lake Illinois.”
The Governor continued: “The proclamation has been forwarded to Google to ensure the world’s maps reflect this momentous change. In addition, the recent announcement that to protect the homeland the United States will be purchasing Greenland…Illinois will now be annexing Green Bay to protect itself against enemies, foreign and domestic. I’ve also instructed my team to work diligently to prepare for an important announcement next week regarding the Mississippi River.”
What Happens Next
There are no indications Pritzker is actually planning to rename the lake or annex Green Bay. Trump’s bids to establish U.S. sovereignty over Greenland and Canada are likely to cause further tensions with American allies, while being unlikely to move forward peacefully due to strong majorities opposed in both nations.
