Trump Signs Executive Order Renaming Lake Ontario as Lake America Amid Escalating Trade War with Canada

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday directing the federal government to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America,” the latest escalation in a deepening trade dispute with Canada that has strained relations between the two longtime allies.

Trump signed the order in the Oval Office, flanked by large display boards depicting maps of the Great Lakes, including one labeled “Making the Great Lakes Even Greater” with “Lake America” printed over the body of water that forms part of the border between New York and Ontario, Canada. The president said the change would take effect immediately.

“‘Lake of America’ was something I’ve been thinking about for a long time,” Trump said, according to multiple outlets present in the Oval Office. He went on to suggest the renaming could extend further. “We have a gulf and we have a lake. Now, all we need is an ocean. So, maybe we’ll have to change the name of the Atlantic, and/or the Pacific. Maybe we’ll change them both.”

The order directs the Interior Department to update federal geographic databases and mapping systems to reflect the new name. According to the text of the order, the designation is justified in part because “the deepest parts of the Lake’s waters” and most of its volume lie within U.S. territory. The order describes Lake Ontario as “a tremendous asset to the United States and part of our Nation’s heritage.”

Asked by a reporter what message he intended to send to Canada with the move, Trump initially said, “No message.” He then pivoted to criticism of the country’s trade practices. “Canada has been ripping us off for a long time on trade, very sadly,” he said. He added that Canada “wants to be treated like a state, but they’re not a state,” and accused Canadian officials of treating the United States “very badly,” calling them “nasty people.”

Trump’s order follows a similar move early in his second term, when he signed an executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” on his first day back in office. That change drew objections from Mexican officials, who said they would continue using the traditional name, and prompted some digital mapping services to display different names depending on a user’s location.

Legal experts have noted that a U.S. president has authority to determine how federal agencies refer to geographic features for official purposes, but cannot compel other countries or international bodies to adopt the new terminology. Lake Ontario is bordered by both the United States and Canada, and the Canadian government has given no indication it intends to recognize the renaming.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney responded to the order on social media shortly after it was signed, pointing out that the lake’s existing name predates both nations. He wrote that the name Lake Ontario derives from the Wendat word “Ontari’io,” which he said means “the lake is beautiful, the lake is big,” and noted the name is more than 400 years old, predating the Confederation of Canada and the U.S. Declaration of Independence. Carney added pointedly that “America is changing,” listing trade relationships, foreign policy, national monuments and “hydronyms” among the shifts.

The order comes amid a rapid deterioration in U.S.-Canada relations following the breakdown of recent trade talks, which has led both countries to impose new retaliatory tariffs on each other’s goods. Trump has repeatedly threatened in social media posts over the past several days that he would move to rename the lake, following through on those threats Thursday.

The renaming is the latest flashpoint in a broader pattern of geographic and symbolic gestures Trump has used to underscore his positions on trade and sovereignty. His order on the Gulf of Mexico last year set a precedent that some allies and critics alike said signaled a willingness to use federal naming authority as a tool of political messaging.

Reaction to the Lake Ontario order has extended beyond Washington and Ottawa. In a separate but related development, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker mockingly proposed renaming Lake Michigan “Lake Illinois” and joked about annexing Green Bay, a jab widely seen as needling Trump over his geographic rebranding efforts and his broader clashes with Pritzker over federal immigration enforcement and other policy disputes.

The White House did not immediately indicate whether Trump intends to pursue additional geographic renamings, though his own remarks Thursday suggested oceans could be next under consideration. Canadian officials have not announced any formal response beyond Carney’s public comments, and it remains unclear whether the dispute over the lake’s name will factor into ongoing trade negotiations between the two countries.