President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday directing U.S. agencies to call Lake Ontario “Lake America,” a change that applies only to federal maps and documents and that Canada immediately rejected.
Trump signed the order in the Oval Office on Aug. 27. According to the White House text, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and the Board on Geographic Names have 30 days to update the Geographic Names Information System. Trump told reporters the rename was “effective immediately.” The Associated Press reported the order cannot force Canada, New York or international mapmakers to follow.
The lake sits on the New York–Ontario border. Axios reported about 47% of its surface lies in the United States. The White House order argues the deepest water and most of the volume are on the U.S. side. Reuters noted the move follows collapsed trade talks and new U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods; Canada has announced counter-tariffs.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on X that the name Lake Ontario comes from the Wendat word Ontari’io and is more than 400 years old. “Canadians also know that naming reality means calling it Lake Ontario — then, now and always,” Reuters quoted him saying. New York officials also said they would not change the name, Reuters reported.
Trump compared the action to last year’s order renaming the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.” He said Canada “treats us very badly” on trade, according to The New York Times.
The change does not alter navigation, shipping or the international border. It does require U.S. federal agencies to use “Lake America” in official references. Printed maps will update over time, CNN reported, citing the U.S. Geological Survey.
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