President Donald Trump signed an executive order on August 27 to rename Lake Ontario to “Lake America,” effective immediately, directing federal agencies to adopt the new name across all official documents and geographic services as tensions with Canada escalate over a collapsing trade dispute.
“This is official, effective immediately,” Trump said after signing the order in the Oval Office. “We’ve filed all the necessary papers, documents, everything else.” The executive order claims that “the deepest parts of the Lake’s waters lying within United States territory” mean the U.S. “claims most of the Lake’s volume,” and that the lake “has long been an integral asset to American exploration, settlement, commerce, and defense.”
When asked what message he intended to send Canada, Trump said the move was not a message but rather a response to what he characterized as unfair trade practices. “Canada has been ripping us off for a long time on trade. They don’t pay for anything, and they want to be treated like a state, but they’re not a state,” Trump said. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, the former governor of North Dakota, posted on social media that “the places and waters that border our nation and support our economy should reflect the greatness of the United States,” and said he was “proud to enact the name change.”
The renaming order comes amid an escalating trade war between the U.S. and Canada. Trade negotiations between the two countries collapsed on August 21, leading both to announce tariffs. Trump has threatened to increase tariffs on Canadian cars, trucks, automotive parts, and steel to 50 percent starting January 1, 2027. In response, Canada announced retaliatory tariffs ranging from 15 to 50 percent on approximately $20 billion worth of American goods, set to take effect September 8, according to the most recent announcements.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney rejected Trump’s renaming, posting on social media that the name Lake Ontario originates from the Wendat word “Ontari’io,” meaning “the lake is beautiful, the lake is big,” and that 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.” Carney stated that Canadians will call the body of water Lake Ontario “then, now and always.” Canadian Industry Minister Mélanie Joly similarly said, “We’ll always call it Lake Ontario. Period.”
Trump’s move follows a similar action last year when he signed an executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. The Interior Department and federal agencies including NOAA, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency complied with that directive, updating maps and official documents. However, private companies and most of the world have continued using the original name. Trump suggested on Thursday that additional geographic renamings could follow, saying, “So, if you think about it, we have a gulf and we have a lake. Now, all we need is an ocean. So, maybe we’ll have to change the name of the Atlantic and/or the Pacific. Maybe we’ll change them both.”
Canadian maritime attorney Marc Isaacs told NBC News this week that a U.S. name change of Lake Ontario would not affect other countries’ naming rights. “The Americans can call it whatever they want to call it. It is Lake Ontario,” Isaacs said. Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes, located between Ontario and New York. The Canadian province of Ontario, founded in 1867, took its name from the lake itself.
Sources
- NBC News — Trump’s executive order signing, his quotes on the rationale, Canadian PM Carney’s response, and maritime attorney commentary
- CBC News — Executive order details, Interior Secretary Burgum’s statement, Canadian officials’ responses, and precedent of the Gulf of Mexico renaming
- Reuters — Trump’s quotes and confirmation of the order signing
- The New York Times — Trade war context and tariff details
- CNBC — Canadian retaliatory tariffs announcement and dollar amounts
- Al Jazeera — Executive order confirmation
