After Trump Accused New York Governor Kathy Hochul of Releasing 7000 Hardcore Criminals, She Spoke Up in Her Own Defense
Blame game
New York Governor Kathy Hochul and President Donald Trump aren’t exactly the best of friends. In a new social media post, Trump took a dig at Hochul, accusing her of releasing “7000 hardcore criminals onto the streets in New York.” He also called her “grossly incompetent” and urged people to vote her out of office!
Hochul, in retaliation, took to her official Press Office X account and accused Trump of falsification. She wrote, “This is a lie. Donald Trump made it up.”
Trump and Hochul have been at odds throughout last week, with the latter notably raising an issue over Trump renaming Lake Ontario. On August 27, 2026, after Trump signed an executive order renaming the water body to Lake America, Hochul took to her social media account to express her displeasure. “An acronym for the Great Lakes used to be HOMES. Thanks to Donald Trump, it’s now SHAME,” Hochul wrote while sharing an image posted by The White House showing the new name.
Did Hochul actually release the prisoners?
A December 1, 2025, statement from the Department of Homeland Security alleges that “New York’s failure to honor ICE detainers has resulted in the release of 6,947 criminal illegal aliens since January 20.” The statement further notes that the crimes committed by these individuals included 2,509 assaults, 29 homicides, 305 robberies, 199 burglaries, 300 weapons offenses, 392 dangerous drugs offenses, and 207 sexual predatory offenses.
Another statement from the government department, dated January 30, 2026, took aim at Hochul by calling her out for failing to cooperate with the Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The statement read, “The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) condemns Governor Hochul’s legislative proposal to bar local police departments from partnering and cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) law enforcement.”
While this latter statement does not explicitly accuse Hochul of releasing these prisoners, it implicitly suggests a connection. Over time, the distinction has blurred, and many now, especially those leaning Republican, seem to hold Hochul directly responsible.
The Lake Ontario/Lake America issue explained
For several weeks, Trump had floated the idea of renaming Lake Ontario, which the US shares with Canada, to Lake America, much to the dissatisfaction of Canadian leadership. After Trump signed the executive order, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney took to social media to express his displeasure.
He wrote, “The name Lake Ontario comes from the Wendat word Ontari’io, which, appropriately, means “the lake is beautiful, the lake is big”. The name is more than 400 years old, predating both the Confederation of Canada and the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America.” He also added, “We know that America is changing. Their trading relationships, their foreign policies, their national monuments, their hydronyms. Canadians also know that naming reality means calling it Lake Ontario – then, now and always.”
According to the latest update on the feud, the US has changed the lake’s name to Lake America on Google Maps, but Canada shows no signs of budging and refuses to rename it.
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