Trump Renames Lake Ontario ‘Lake America’ Amid Canada Trade Row

US President Donald Trump intensified his trade conflict with Canada on Thursday by signing an executive order renaming Lake Ontario as "Lake America." The lake will be renamed for official US government use under the executive order. This means that while the order has no legal force outside the United States and cannot compel Canada or other countries to adopt the name, it will change the lake's name in the US Geographic Names Information System, according to the Associated Press (AP).

For days, Trump had hinted at the possibility, stating on Truth Social that Washington did not "expect to be doing much business with Ontario any longer." The order came after the US imposed 50% tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian imports over the weekend. In response, Ottawa announced retaliatory tariffs on Tuesday covering products ranging from dairy and steel to common household items.

According to sources, Trump said that Canada has been "the worst" to deal with in terms of trade, adding that "they feel entitled and we can't have that." He signed the order at the Resolute Desk, with a large map showing "Lake America" placed behind him.

Carney Defends Lake Ontario’s Historic Name

In a post on X, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney criticised the move, citing the lake's Indigenous heritage and describing the incident as part of a broader change under Trump, according to the AP. He said,

The name Lake Ontario comes from the Wendat word Ontari’io, which, appropriately, means “the lake is beautiful, the lake is big”.

The name is more than 400 years old, predating both the Confederation of Canada and the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America.…

Carney Says Canadians Reject Renaming Move

Carney continued by pointing out that America's commercial ties, foreign policy, national monuments and now its "hydronyms" all appeared to be changing, suggesting that the renaming follows a larger pattern. He firmly concluded that Canadians would continue to refer to the lake by its actual name, "then, now and always”.

Located along the boundary between the Canadian province of Ontario and the US state of New York, Lake Ontario is the smallest of North America's five Great Lakes by surface area. The lake is a shared boundary waterway governed by long-standing US-Canada agreements, with the International Joint Commission overseeing water levels and cross-border use.

The conflict remains largely symbolic for now. Trump's executive order changes how the US government officially refers to the lake, but Canada is not required to adopt the name. The move comes as tariffs, trade retaliation and a naming dispute have further strained relations between Washington and Ottawa.