WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump has ordered the Interior Department to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America” in US geographic records, escalating his trade dispute with Canada.
Trump signed an executive order at the White House on Thursday, 27 August, directing the department to update the lake’s name in the United States’ geographic naming system within 30 days.
The change would apply only in the United States. Trump cannot require Canada to adopt the new name.
Trump has floated the idea in recent days after the United States announced 50% tariffs on US$20 billion worth of Canadian goods over the weekend, following the collapse of trade talks between the two countries.
Canada responded with tariffs of equal value on US goods, including steel, dairy products, electrical appliances and agricultural equipment.
During the signing ceremony in the Oval Office, Trump sat beside large maps of the five Great Lakes. One showed the words “Lake America” in red above Lake Ontario, while another carried the slogan: “Make the five lakes great again.”
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney rejected the move, citing the lake’s Indigenous roots and its long-established name, which predates both Canadian Confederation and US independence.
“Canadians also know that naming things accurately means calling it Lake Ontario, in the past, present and future,”
Carney said.
Trump has repeatedly taunted Canada since returning to the White House last year, at times suggesting that the US ally should become America’s 51st state.
