Trump renames Lake Ontario ‘Lake America’ as tensions with Canada escalate

WASHINGTON — Trump signed the order in the Oval Office on Thursday, Aug. 27, directing the U.S. secretary of the interior and Board on Geographic Names to implement the change within 30 days. The order requires the Geographic Names Information System to replace references to Lake Ontario with “Lake America” and directs federal departments and agencies to use the new name on maps, contracts, documents and official communications.

The White House justified the decision by emphasizing the lake's importance to American commerce, settlement and military history and argued that the United States has made significant investments in protecting and maintaining the Great Lakes. Trump told reporters that changing Lake Ontario's name was something he had considered “for a long time.” His order follows a similar decision shortly after returning to office in 2025 to rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” for U.S. federal purposes.

The move comes amid a sharp deterioration in relations between Washington and Ottawa following the collapse of another round of trade negotiations. The two countries have exchanged tariffs affecting billions of dollars in goods, while Trump has repeatedly criticized Canada's trade policies and threatened additional measures against Canadian industries. His initial suggestion earlier this week that Lake Ontario could be renamed was explicitly tied to the dispute, with Trump saying the United States did not expect to be doing much business with Ontario.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney quickly rejected the change, noting that the Lake Ontario name predates both modern Canada and the United States. “Canadians also know that naming reality means calling it Lake Ontario – then, now and always,” Carney said. Approximately 52 per cent of the lake's surface area lies on the Canadian side of the international boundary, with the remainder in New York.

The name itself has Indigenous origins. Reuters reported that Grand Chief Pierre Picard of the Wendat Nation condemned Trump's decision, saying the Ontario name originates in the Wendat language and refers to the lake as beautiful or great. Picard accused the president of attempting to erase a history that long predates the establishment of either Canada or the United States.

Opposition has also emerged south of the border. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, whose state forms the entire American shoreline of Lake Ontario, said simply that “New York won't be calling it that,” while Vermont's Republican Gov. Phil Scott described Trump's decision as “petty and disappointing.” The executive order binds federal agencies, but it does not compel state governments, private businesses or members of the public to use the new name.