Trump signs executive order to rename Lake Ontario as "Lake America" amid trade dispute with Canada
Select a version of the text written from a presumed ideological perspective. This is not the original text, but a hypothetical version — how someone with that viewpoint might have phrased it. Tapping the current version again will return to the original or select cleaned version.
President Donald Trump signed an order changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America, a move that coincides with escalating tariff measures between the United States and Canada.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that directs the U.S. Interior Department to rename Lake Ontario as "Lake America" in the Geographic Names Information System, effective immediately. The change applies to the Great Lake that forms part of the border between New York and the Canadian province of Ontario.
The renaming comes as trade negotiations between Washington and Ottawa have broken down, leading to a series of retaliatory tariffs. The United States recently imposed a 50% tariff on about $20 billion of Canadian imports, and Canada announced matching tariffs that will take effect in early September, with some reductions for seafood products.
In the Oval Office, Trump said the name change was intended to send a message about trade, adding that Canada has “been ripping us off for a long time on trade.” He also suggested that further symbolic changes to other bodies of water could follow.
A White House official confirmed that the order tasks Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum with updating the official geographic database. This is the second instance in Trump's presidency of attempting to rename a major water body; earlier in his term he signed an order to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America," which faced international criticism.
Canadian officials have stated they will not recognize the new name, and the move is expected to add tension to an already strained bilateral relationship.