Trump executive order changes name of Lake Ontario to Lake America
by Darryl Coote & Lisa Hornung · UPIAug. 27 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday to rename Lake Ontario as "Lake America," following his dispute with Canada over tariffs.
Trump threatened to rename the lake Tuesday on Truth Social, saying, "The United States is giving serious consideration to changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America in that we don't expect to be doing much business with Ontario any longer."
"We're going to be changing the name of Lake Ontario, effective immediately, to Lake America," the president said just before signing the order.
In an Oval Office press conference, asked what message he was trying to send with the renaming, Trump replied: "No message."
"As you know, Canada has been ripping us off for a long time on trade, very sadly," he said. "Even the military. You know, we defend Canada for nothing."
Canada is a founding member of NATO.
The order says that within 30 days, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum will update the Geographic Names Information System. The GNIS works with the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to standardize geographic names for federal use.
"We're on it, Mr. President!" Burgum said in a statement.
"We are PROUD to implement your Executive Order to rename LAKE AMERICA."
The move is mostly symbolic. While the body of water will be officially labeled Lake America only by the U.S. government, Canada will continue to call it Lake Ontario.
Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada responded to Trump's move by explaining the word "Ontario" comes from the Windat language and means "the lake is beautiful, the lake is big."
He said the name is more than 400 years old and predates the founding of both Canada and the United States.
"We know that America is changing. Their trading relationships, their foreign policies, their national monuments, their hydronymns," Carney said in a social media statement.
"Canadians also know that naming reality means calling it Lake Ontario -- then, now and always."
Grand Chief Pierre Picard of the Wendat Nation lambasted Trump, accusing him of trying to "eradicate" their history. He said he was to meet with the U.S. ambassador to Canada in the coming days and that Carney assured him the body water will never be renamed north of the border.
"For our Nation, the name Ontario embodies history, culture and identity. To call this name into question is abhorrent and unspeakable act," Picard said in a statement.
"Just like his presidency, this name change once again sows confusion and strikes a direct blow to the very heart of our Wendat identity."
Relations between the once-ironclad allies have drastically soured under a second Trump administration. Repeated threats and imposition of tariffs, threats of annexation and insults from Trump have prompted the Canadian government to turn to Europe in search of stable partnerships.
Carney has previously referred to Trump's actions as a "betrayal" and has framed Washington as a government that could no longer be depended on.
The move was roundly rejected by Democrats, many accusing him of being more interested in fighting with his political opponents than leading the country.
"Inflation increasing. The Iran war raging on with no end in sight. A trade war with Canada. And what does Trump want? To rename Lake Ontario," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.
"Donald Trump's personal grievances first, Americans last."
Some Republicans have also criticized the move, including Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, who called the executive order "petty and disappointing."
"We should be at the negotiating table, finding a path forward that strengthens both the U.S. and Canadian economies," he said. "Further escalating tensions does nothing to help American or Canadian families and businesses."
The move comes after the United States imposed a 50% tariff on many Canadian goods over the weekend after Carney rejected Trump's demands to prevent their imposition, including restrictions on Ottawa signing trade deals with other countries and changes weakening protections for French, one of Canada's two official languages.
In walking away from the negotiations, Carney said, "We were not prepared to compromise Canada's sovereignty or undermine our key industries. We were not prepared to compromise on the protection of the French language and our culture."
Trump renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and Mount Denali to Mount McKinley on his first day in office in 2025. He can't force other countries or private entities to use the new names, but he can force the federal government to.
Because it's an international boundary water, Canada and the United States cooperate on certain Lake Ontario water-management issues through the International Joint Commission under the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909.