Trump Signs Executive Order Changing Lake Ontario to ‘Lake America’

U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order directing the federal government to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America”, escalating tensions with Canada amid an increasingly bitter trade dispute between the two countries.

Trump signed the order on Thursday, August 27, 2026, at the White House. The directive instructs the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to update federal records and maps to reflect the new name.

The move affects how the lake is identified in U.S. federal government usage. It does not give Washington the authority to force Canada or international organisations to adopt the new name. Lake Ontario forms part of the border between the United States and Canada, with New York State to the south and the Canadian province of Ontario to the north.

The executive order argues that Lake Ontario is an important American economic and strategic resource, citing its role in shipping, commerce, energy, recreation and the wider Great Lakes system.

The order says the United States has invested heavily in protecting the Great Lakes and notes that much of the lake’s volume lies within U.S. territory. Trump therefore directed officials to officially rename it “Lake America” for federal purposes.

The administration’s directive gives the Interior Department 30 days to take the necessary steps to update the federal Geographic Names Information System and remove references to Lake Ontario from the database.

The decision was immediately rejected by Canadian officials.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canadians know the body of water as Lake Ontario and will continue to do so.

Carney described the lake’s name as having deep historical roots, originating from the Wendat Indigenous language. He said it would remain “Lake Ontario then, now and always.”

Other Canadian politicians also dismissed Trump’s move, arguing that the United States cannot unilaterally determine what the lake is called in Canada.

The dispute comes as relations between Washington and Ottawa have deteriorated over trade. Trump has imposed steep tariffs on Canadian products, while Canada has announced retaliatory measures.

The Lake Ontario decision follows Trump’s earlier attempt to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America.”

Trump has also reversed the U.S. federal government’s use of the name Denali, restoring the former name Mount McKinley.

During Thursday’s signing, Trump suggested that further geographic renaming could follow, reportedly joking about changing the names of major oceans.

Critics have described the Lake Ontario decision as provocative, particularly because the lake is shared by two countries and its existing name has centuries of historical and Indigenous significance.

For now, the change means “Lake America” in U.S. federal records, while Canada continues to call it Lake Ontario. The disagreement is therefore likely to remain another symbolic flashpoint in the increasingly strained relationship between the two North American neighbours.