President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday directing the U.S. government to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America,” taking the symbolic step as tensions between Washington and Ottawa continue to intensify over trade and other disputes.
The order instructs the Interior Department, working with the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, to update federal geographic records and replace references to Lake Ontario with “Lake America” in government maps, documents, databases and other official communications.
Although the change applies to how the lake is identified by the U.S. government, Trump cannot require Canada to adopt the new name for the portion of the lake within Canadian jurisdiction, nor can the United States compel international organizations, foreign governments or mapmakers around the world to use the designation.
Trump signed the order at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, where maps of the Great Lakes were displayed behind him with the words “Lake America” prominently placed over the body of water traditionally known as Lake Ontario.
The president described the change as an action he had been considering for some time and said the new designation was intended to recognize what he characterized as the lake’s importance to the United States, including its role in commerce, transportation, energy and regional development.
The executive order states that the federal government should complete the renaming process within 30 days, despite Trump’s description of the measure during the signing as taking effect immediately, with the Board on Geographic Names expected to provide guidance for federal agencies adopting the new terminology.
The order argues that the United States has made substantial investments in protecting the Great Lakes and notes that the U.S. Coast Guard operates nine of the 11 icebreakers serving the Great Lakes, while the federal government has invested nearly $4 billion in protecting the freshwater ecosystem over the past decade.
Lake Ontario forms part of the international border between the United States and Canada, with New York along its southern and eastern shores and the Canadian province of Ontario bordering it to the north, west and southwest, making any unilateral naming change particularly sensitive.
The lake has long played an important role in transportation and economic activity across the region, supporting shipping, manufacturing, agriculture and energy infrastructure while also providing drinking water to nearby communities and water used by several types of power plants.
Trump's decision comes during a significant deterioration in U.S.-Canadian trade relations, following the breakdown of negotiations and Washington's imposition of 50% tariffs on about $20 billion worth of Canadian goods, prompting Ottawa to respond with retaliatory tariffs on a comparable value of American products.
The dispute represents another chapter in Trump's broader confrontation with Canada since returning to the White House, including his repeated suggestion that the country could eventually become the 51st U.S. state, a proposal that Canadian officials and much of the Canadian public have strongly rejected.
Canadian officials have also pushed back against the lake renaming, with Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston dismissing the move in a social media post by saying, “We're into some real foolishness now. It's Lake Ontario, buddy.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who has previously exchanged sharp remarks with Trump, had characterized the possibility of changing the lake's name as largely political rhetoric before the president formally signed the order.
Trump defended his broader approach toward Canada by arguing that the United States has carried an unfair burden in trade and defense, while maintaining that his administration's disputes are with Canadian leadership rather than the Canadian people.
The president also referenced his administration's earlier decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America,” suggesting that additional geographic names could potentially be reconsidered in the future.
“We have a gulf and we have a lake. Now, all we need is an ocean,” Trump said, adding that the Atlantic or Pacific oceans could potentially become subjects of future name changes.
The name Lake Ontario predates the modern political boundaries surrounding the waterway, with its name derived from an Indigenous Huron term commonly translated as referring to “a lake of shining waters,” while the Canadian province of Ontario later adopted its name from the lake.
There is no single international authority responsible for determining the names of all bodies of water that cross national boundaries, leaving individual governments with considerable authority over the geographic terminology used within their own official systems.
The White House order therefore establishes “Lake America” as the preferred federal designation in the United States, while the longstanding name Lake Ontario can continue to be used by Canada and by international entities that are not bound by the U.S. government's geographic naming decisions.