US President Donald Trump has ordered Lake Ontario to be renamed “Lake America,” adding a new point of contention to already strained relations between the United States and Canada.
Trump signed an executive order directing the US government to adopt the new name for the lake, which forms part of the border between the two countries.
“We’re going to be changing the name of Lake Ontario effective immediately to Lake America,” Trump said while signing the order at the White House.
Canada, however, has rejected the move. Prime Minister Mark Carney said the lake would continue to be known as Lake Ontario, regardless of the US administration’s decision.
Carney pointed out that the name dates back roughly 400 years and predates the creation of both the United States and Canada. The name is derived from an Indigenous term associated with descriptions of the lake as beautiful and large.
“America is changing,” Carney wrote in a post on X, while stressing that Canadians know the body of water as “Lake Ontario — then, now and always.”
‘Deepest part of the lake is on American side’
Trump’s executive order instructs the US Department of the Interior to update references to the lake in the federal government’s official geographic naming system within 30 days. It also directs federal agencies to use “Lake America” in official references.
The order cites the location of the lake’s deepest point as part of the rationale for the name change. It argues that because the deepest portion lies on the American side, the United States “claims most of the Lake’s volume.”
Trump said he had been considering changing the name for “a long time,” as his administration faces continuing political and economic challenges ahead of the US midterm elections in November.
The proposed renaming comes amid a wider escalation in trade tensions between Washington and Ottawa. The United States has imposed 50 per cent tariffs on Canadian products worth about $20 billion following unsuccessful trade negotiations.
Carney has vowed to respond with matching measures, saying Canada would impose tariffs “dollar for dollar” after rejecting conditions put forward by Washington for a trade agreement.
Trump also hinted that the naming controversy could extend beyond Lake Ontario. Referring to the bodies of water surrounding the United States, he suggested that the country could consider renaming one or both of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
“We have a gulf and we have a lake. Now all we need is an ocean,” Trump said. “So, maybe we’ll have to change the name of the Atlantic and/or the Pacific. Maybe we’ll change them both.”
