Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing his administration to change the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America after threatening the action for days amid his rapidly escalating trade war with Canada.
Trump's order, which he signed in the Oval Office on Aug. 27, directs the Department of Interior and U.S. Board on Geographic Names to formalize the change within 20 days. As he signed the order, Trump compared it to his previous move to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America.
"If you think about it, we have a gulf and we have a lake, now all we need is an ocean," Trump said. "So maybe we'll have to change the name of the Atlantic and/or the Pacific."
President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing his administration to change the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America after threatening the action for days amid his rapidly escalating trade war with Canada.
Trump's order, which he signed in the Oval Office on Aug. 27, directs the Department of Interior and U.S. Board on Geographic Names to formalize the change within 20 days. As he signed the order, Trump compared it to his previous move to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America.
"If you think about it, we have a gulf and we have a lake, now all we need is an ocean," Trump said. "So maybe we'll have to change the name of the Atlantic and/or the Pacific."
