President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday directing U.S. agencies to refer to Lake Ontario as “Lake America,” days after trade negotiations with Canada broke down and Washington imposed new tariffs on Canadian goods.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday directing the federal government to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America,” tying the move to his escalating trade dispute with Canada.
The change took effect immediately for U.S. federal naming purposes, with the Department of the Interior ordered to update the Geographic Names Information System to reflect the new designation.
Trump announced the action from the Oval Office while again accusing Canada of benefiting unfairly from its economic and security relationship with the United States.
“Canada has been ripping us off for a long time on trade, very sadly,” Trump told reporters after signing the order. “Even the military, you know, we defend Canada for nothing. We don’t get anything.”
The executive action followed Trump’s Aug. 25 announcement that he intended to change the lake’s name after negotiations between Washington and Ottawa deteriorated.
Trump said at the time that Canada had failed to contribute enough while expecting favorable treatment from the United States.
“They don’t pay for anything, and they want to be treated like a state, but they’re not a state,” Trump said.
He also said the United States would impose tariffs on Canadian automobiles “at a substantial level.”
The naming decision comes during a rapidly intensifying trade confrontation between the neighboring countries.
U.S.-Canada negotiations broke down Aug. 21.
One day later, new 50% U.S. tariffs took effect on nearly $20 billion worth of Canadian products.
The dispute widened further on Aug. 24, when Trump announced that the United States would impose 50% tariffs on all Canadian vehicles beginning in 2027.
That announcement came after Canada said it intended to respond to U.S. trade measures with dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs.
Trump’s decision to rename Lake Ontario follows a similar executive action taken early in his second administration.
In January 2025, Trump ordered federal agencies to adopt the name “Gulf of America” in place of the Gulf of Mexico.
Thursday’s order applies the same federal naming approach to one of the Great Lakes.
Lake Ontario sits along the U.S.-Canada border, with New York on its southern and eastern shores and Ontario on its northern and western sides.
The U.S. order changes how the lake is identified by federal agencies and in the Geographic Names Information System. It does not require Canada to adopt the same name.
Trump joked Thursday that the Gulf and lake renamings could eventually be followed by changes to the names of one or both oceans bordering the United States.
“We have a Gulf, and we have a Lake—now all we need is an ocean,” Trump said Aug. 27. “Maybe we‘ll have to change the name of the Atlantic and/or the Pacific. Maybe we’ll change them both.”
The Lake America order adds another symbolic element to a broader dispute that is already producing substantial economic consequences.
With 50% tariffs now applying to nearly $20 billion in Canadian products and another 50% tariff on Canadian vehicles scheduled for 2027, relations between Washington and Ottawa have deteriorated sharply since the collapse of trade talks on Aug. 21.
Trump has framed both the tariff campaign and the renaming as part of a broader effort to rebalance what he says has been an unequal relationship with Canada.
As of Thursday, U.S. federal agencies are now directed to use “Lake America” in official geographic records, marking the second major geographic feature renamed by Trump since returning to office.
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