Overview
- President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday, August 27, 2026, directing the Department of the Interior and federal naming authorities to replace “Lake Ontario” with “Lake America” in U.S. records.
- The U.S. Geological Survey reported it has already updated official electronic USGS documents and the Geographic Names Information System to reflect the new name.
- Ottawa rejected the change outright with Prime Minister Mark Carney saying the body of water will remain Lake Ontario and provincial and local leaders, including New York governor Kathy Hochul, said they will not use the new U.S. name.
- The renaming is tied to a sharper trade confrontation: the administration imposed 50% tariffs on about $20 billion of Canadian goods and Canada has announced matching retaliatory duties that threaten jobs and supply chains in border states and provinces.
- The order has practical limits because it only binds U.S. federal agencies, it revives a 2025 precedent of renaming shared waters, and it drew criticism from Indigenous leaders who note the lake’s name comes from centuries-old Wendat language and history.