U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an event in the Oval Office of the White House on August 27, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Andrew Harnik | Getty Images News | Getty Images
President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order that he said will “immediately” change the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America.”
Trump’s attempt to rename the Great Lake, which straddles the U.S. northern border with Canada, came as a recent breakdown in trade talks between Washington and Ottawa has led to new retaliatory tariffs and a rapidly deteriorating relationship.
Trump in recent days had repeatedly threatened to take the symbolic step, but it was unclear if he was being serious. Canadian officials have already said they will not recognize the new name.
“We’re going to be changing the name of Lake Ontario, effective immediately to Lake America,” Trump said in the Oval Office before signing the executive order.
A White House official told Trump that the order directs Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and his department to update the Geographic Names Information System “to reflect that lake once known as Lake Ontario will, from this day forward, be known as Lake America.”
When a reporter asked Trump what message he was trying to send with the move, he initially claimed, “No message.”
But he immediately added, “Canada has been ripping us off for a long time on trade.”
“They don’t pay for anything, and they want to be treated like a state, but they’re not a state,” said Trump, who last year angered many Canadians by repeatedly advocating for making Canada the 51st U.S. state.
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