U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday directing the federal government to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America.”
The order instructs the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to update the official Geographic Names Information System within 30 days so that federal maps, documents and communications use the new name. Trump described the change as “official, effective immediately.”
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and borders both the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of New York. In the executive order, the White House said the deepest parts of the lake and most of its volume lie within U.S. territory, calling it “a tremendous asset to the United States and part of our Nation’s heritage.”
The move comes amid escalating trade tensions between the United States and Canada. Trade talks between the two countries collapsed last week, after which the U.S. imposed 50% tariffs on about US$20 billion worth of Canadian goods. Canada has said it will respond with “dollar-for-dollar” counter-tariffs.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s office did not immediately comment on the name change. Several U.S. state officials and Canadian figures have indicated they will not adopt the new designation. The order applies only to U.S. federal usage and does not compel Canada, international organisations or other mapmakers to change the name.
Trump previously renamed the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” at the start of his current term. While signing the latest order, he remarked that the United States now has both a gulf and a lake under the “America” name, and jokingly suggested that an ocean could be next.
The traditional name “Ontario” is derived from an Indigenous Iroquoian word commonly translated as “lake of shining waters” or “great lake,” and has appeared on maps since the 17th century.