Donald Trump signs official order to change Lake Ontario's name

Washington : The President of the United States has signed an executive order seeking to change the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America. The lake is shared by Canada and America.

The move comes after trade talks between the two nations collapsed late last week. Following which the US imposed new 50% tariffs on $20bn (C$28bn) worth of Canadian goods. Canada is likely to implement "dollar for dollar" counter tariffs next month.

It must be noted that Donald Trump had earlier threatened to change the name of one of the five Great Lakes that straddle both the nations on social media. Now, he has announced that the move is official and effective immediately. The concerned department has also filed all the necessary documents to amend the change.

Text of the executive order says it gives the US Department of the Interior 30 days to update the name change with the Geographic Names Information Service - the official repository of domestic geographic names in the US.

Canada has reacted sharply on the announcement and said people will always call the water body as Lake Ontario.

"Trace down the history and you will find the name Lake Ontario to be 400 years old.

"We know that the United States is changing. Their trade relations, their foreign policy, their national monuments, their hydronyms," Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney wrote on social media.

"Canadian women and men also know that things must be called by their name, and this lake is called Lake Ontario – today and forever." 

This is not the first time when Donald Trump has called for such name change. In 2025, he had signed a similar order to change the name of Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America. However, Mexico had reacted strongly and claimed that the name cannot be changed without the concensus as it is shared by the two nations.