Trump signs order renaming Lake Ontario to 'Lake America'
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario to "Lake America."
"We filed all the necessary papers, documents, everything else. We've notified all of the various people that we have to notify. So we've done everything that you have to do and this is official effective immediately," Trump said in the Oval Office on Thursday.
The order instructs the Interior Department to update the federal geographic database, requiring federal agencies to use "Lake America" on official maps and documents. The president cannot mandate that Canada, international organizations, private companies, or other countries adopt the new name.
The president first floated the idea of renaming the lake as trade negotiations between the U.S. and Canada fell apart over the weekend, with the U.S. imposing 50% tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods. Within days, Canada retaliated, placing tariffs on more than $20 billion of American imports.
The move mirrors one made by the president early in his term, when he renamed the Gulf of Mexico the "Gulf of America." During the announcement on Thursday, he suggested there may be more to come.
"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. Maybe we'll change them."
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