Trump Signs Executive Order: Lake Ontario Will Be Called “Lake America

President Donald Trump signed an executive order today to change the name of Lake Ontario, which lies on the border between the United States and Canada. Under the order, the lake will be called “Lake America.”

The decision is part of Trump’s policy of reshaping geographical names for patriotic and political reasons. Earlier, another similar change saw the Gulf of Mexico renamed the Gulf of America.

The new initiative comes amid tensions between Washington and Ottawa following the trade war, the imposition of reciprocal tariffs and Trump’s threats to annex Canada as the 51st U.S. state.

Lake Ontario stretches along the U.S.-Canada border, and around 47% of its surface belongs to the United States.

However, Axios reported that it remains unclear whether the U.S. president has the legal authority to change the name of a lake shared by two countries.

Trump had previously announced this intention in a post on Truth Social, writing that “the United States is seriously considering changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America, as we no longer expect to work closely with Ontario.”

The U.S. president also published a map in which the name “Lake Ontario” had been erased and replaced with “Lake America,” written in gold letters.

Trade talks between the United States and Canada broke down last Friday. As a result, 50% tariffs were imposed on Canadian goods worth around $20 billion. The Canadian prime minister said his country would respond with “dollar-for-dollar” tariffs, meaning tariffs of equal value.

On Monday, Trump again threatened Canada, warning that tariffs on cars and trucks would rise to 50%, although these measures would not take effect until 2027.