President Donald Trump renamed Lake Ontario “Lake America” on Thursday, signing an executive order as trade tensions with Canada escalate.
He called the move “effective immediately,” directing Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to update the Geographic Names Information System within 30 days.
U.S. Geological Survey Director Ned Mamula said the change was already reflected in official USGS electronic documents, with printed materials to follow.
Tariff Standoff Poses Cross-Border Risk
The order follows the collapse of U.S.-Canada trade talks last Friday, which triggered 50% U.S. tariffs on roughly $20 billion of Canadian goods. Canada has also announced matching “dollar for dollar” retaliatory tariffs of up to 50%, set to take effect Sept. 8. Canada trimmed tariffs on seafood and fish products Wednesday, citing efforts to limit broader economic harm.
Responding to the new name change order, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney pushed back on X, noting that Lake Ontario’s Indigenous-origin name predates both nations by more than 400 years. The name comes from the Wendat word Ontari’io, meaning “the lake is beautiful, the lake is big,” he wrote.
“We know America is changing,” Carney added. “Their trading relationships, their foreign policies, their national monuments, their hydronyms.”
A Broader Pattern of Renaming
Trump previously renamed the Gulf of Mexico “Gulf of America” in January 2025.
U.S. President’s rare obsession with name change is not limited to waterways. He previously sought to rename the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts after himself.
Reports have also surfaced that the Navy may strip Black WWII hero Doris Miller‘s name from aircraft carrier CVN-81, built by Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. (NYSE:HII), and replace it with Trump’s.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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