Trump Signs ‘Lake America’ Executive Order
President Donald Trump turned an increasingly bitter trade dispute with Canada into a fight over the map Thursday, signing an executive order changing the U.S. government’s name for Lake Ontario to “Lake America.”
“We’re going to be changing the name of Lake Ontario, effective immediately, to Lake America,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “That’s going to take place right now as I sign the order.”
The executive order directs Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to update the Geographic Names Information System and certify the change within 30 days.
Trump connected the decision to Executive Order 14172, which he signed on Jan. 20, 2025, establishing an administration policy of renaming prominent natural landmarks to recognize American history and achievements.
“The United States is the greatest protector of the Great Lakes, including the body of water currently known as Lake Ontario,” Thursday’s order stated.
The administration supported that argument with several examples of American spending and activity on the Great Lakes. According to the order, the U.S. Coast Guard provides nine of the 11 icebreaking vessels operating on the lakes, helping keep commercial shipping lanes open.
🚨 BREAKING: @POTUS signs an Executive Order renaming Lake Ontario as Lake America.
Here is the text of the Order:
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:
Section 1. Purpose and Policy.… pic.twitter.com/ggfLXiD0g7
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 27, 2026
The order also cited nearly $4 billion in U.S. investment over the previous decade to protect the Great Lakes freshwater ecosystem and asserted that Canada spent substantially less on comparable efforts.
Trump’s case for “Lake America” went beyond federal spending.
“The body of water currently known as Lake Ontario is a tremendous asset to the United States and part of our Nation’s heritage,” the order declared.
It noted that the deepest portions of Lake Ontario lie within U.S. territory and asserted that the United States consequently claims most of the lake’s water by volume. Lake Ontario itself is shared by the United States and Canada, with New York along its southern and eastern shores and the Canadian province of Ontario bordering much of its northern shoreline.
The order also reached back more than two centuries, citing Lake Ontario’s importance during the War of 1812 as well as its subsequent role in American commerce, settlement and defense.
Commercial shipping received particular attention. The administration said Great Lakes activity supports hundreds of thousands of American jobs and billions of dollars in annual economic output, cargo value and related business revenue. Iron ore, limestone, coal and agricultural products were among the commodities specifically cited.
But the timing leaves little doubt that the name change is also tangled up with Trump’s current confrontation with Canada.
Only days before signing the order, Trump publicly raised the possibility of renaming the lake while accusing Canada of benefiting from unfair trade arrangements with the United States.
“The United States is giving serious consideration to changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America in that we don’t expect to be doing much business with Ontario any longer,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Thursday’s signature turned that threat into official U.S. policy.