Trump signs order to rename Lake Ontario ‘Lake America’ amid Canada trade
U.S. President Donald Trump sits next to a map with “Lake America” written on it as he attends an event to sign an executive order at the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., Aug. 27, 2026.
Evan Vucci | Reuters
President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order that he said will “immediately” change the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America.”
Trump’s attempt to rename the Great Lake, which straddles the U.S. northern border with Canada, came as a recent breakdown in trade talks between Washington and Ottawa has led to new retaliatory tariffs and a rapidly deteriorating relationship.
Trump in recent days had repeatedly threatened to take the symbolic step, but it was unclear if he was being serious. Canadian officials have already said they will not recognize the new name.
“We’re going to be changing the name of Lake Ontario, effective immediately to Lake America,” Trump said in the Oval Office before signing the executive order.
A White House official told Trump that the order directs Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and his department to update the Geographic Names Information System “to reflect that lake once known as Lake Ontario will, from this day forward, be known as Lake America.”
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