Ottawa Council Considers Renaming Trump Avenue, With ‘Obama’ And ‘Taco’ Among Suggestions

Ottawa Council Considers Renaming Trump Avenue, With ‘Obama’ and ‘Taco’ Among Suggestions A city council in Canada is considering renaming a residential street named after US President Donald Trump, amid heightened tensions between Canada and the United States. Ottawa City Council has unanimously voted to begin the process of considering a new name for Trump Avenue, a street in the city’s Central Park neighbourhood that has carried Trump’s name for about 25 years. The move comes as relations between Ottawa and Washington have deteriorated over trade disputes, tariffs and President Trump’s repeated criticism of Canada. Several alternative names have reportedly been suggested, including “Obama Avenue,” “Ontario Avenue,” “Canada Avenue,” “Beaver Avenue” and “Taco Avenue.” Other proposals have also been floated during discussions over a possible replacement. The effort to remove Trump’s name from the street follows renewed calls from Ottawa councillors who say it is no longer appropriate for a street in Canada’s capital to honour the US president.Riley Brockington, the councillor representing the area, has previously expressed embarrassment that the street continues to bear Trump’s name, particularly amid the president’s increasingly confrontational approach towards Canada. The latest council vote begins a formal process that will require consultation with residents before any final decision is made. The street is located in Ottawa’s River Ward, in the Central Park neighbourhood off Merivale Road. Among the proposed names, Taco Avenue has attracted particular attention because of its political undertone. “TACO” became a popular Wall Street acronym for “Trump Always Chickens Out”, a phrase coined in 2025 to describe what some investors viewed as a pattern in Trump’s tariff strategy announcing steep tariffs before later delaying, reducing or suspending some of the measures. The phrase has previously irritated Trump, who rejected the suggestion that he backs down from his trade policies. The proposal to use “Taco Avenue” has therefore been interpreted by some observers as a pointed political jab at the US president. Another proposed replacement is Obama Avenue, referring to former US President Barack Obama. The suggestion comes as Ottawa residents and councillors debate whether the street should retain a reference to an American political figure at all. Other proposed names, including Ontario Avenue, Canada Avenue and Beaver Avenue, would remove the direct connection to US politics altogether. The proposed name change is not immediate. Residents living along Trump Avenue will have an opportunity to participate in the renaming process, and approval from a majority of affected households is expected to be required before the change can proceed. The issue could therefore remain unresolved until after Ottawa’s municipal election in October. The controversy comes at a particularly tense moment in Canada-US relations, following disputes over tariffs and trade negotiations. It also comes shortly after Trump signed an executive order seeking to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America” for US federal purposes, a move strongly rejected by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and other Canadian officials.The possible removal of Trump’s name from an Ottawa street has consequently become another symbolic reflection of the increasingly strained relationship between the two neighbouring countries.