Trump Renames Lake Ontario ‘Lake America’ Canada’s Mark Carney Rejects Move
- US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order directing the US federal government to use “Lake America” instead of Lake Ontario.
- Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney rejected the change, saying Canadians will continue to call it Lake Ontario.
- The move comes amid renewed trade tensions between the United States and Canada.
US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order directing the US federal government to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America”, opening a fresh dispute with neighbouring Canada.
Trump signed the order at the White House on Thursday, August 27. Under the directive, the US Department of the Interior and the US Board on Geographic Names are expected to update the federal Geographic Names Information System within 30 days. US federal agencies will then use “Lake America” on official maps, documents and communications.
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The decision followed comments Trump made earlier in the week when he said his administration was seriously considering changing the lake’s name. His remarks came as trade relations between Washington and Ottawa deteriorated following unsuccessful negotiations between the two countries.
Trump linked his dissatisfaction with Canada to trade and particularly criticised Ontario. Speaking after signing the order, the US president said he had been considering the new name for some time and argued that the lake has major historical and economic importance for the United States.
The White House said Lake Ontario has played an important role in American exploration, commerce, defence and economic development. The administration also highlighted US spending on protecting the Great Lakes and maintaining shipping routes as part of its justification for the change.
However, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney firmly rejected Trump’s decision and defended the lake’s centuries-old name.
Carney said the name Lake Ontario comes from the Wendat word “Ontari’io”, meaning “the lake is beautiful, the lake is big”. He noted that the name is more than 400 years old and predates both Canadian Confederation and the US Declaration of Independence.
“We know that America is changing. Their trading relationships, their foreign policies, their national monuments, their hydronyms,” Carney said in a statement.
He added that Canadians understand the lake’s identity clearly and would continue referring to it as Lake Ontario “then, now and always.”
Trump’s executive order applies to US federal usage and does not require Canada to adopt the new name. Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes and is shared by Canada and the United States, with the international border running through the lake.
The latest decision follows Trump’s previous geographical renaming moves. After returning to the White House in 2025, his administration changed the US federal designation of the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America” and restored the name Mount McKinley for Alaska’s Denali.
