Trump Signs Order To Rename Lake Ontario As 'Lake America' Amid Canada Trade Row

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order seeking to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America”, adding a new point of contention to already strained relations between the United States and Canada.

The move comes amid a growing trade dispute between the two countries after negotiations broke down late last week. The US subsequently imposed new 50% tariffs on around $20 billion worth of Canadian goods, while Canada has announced plans for matching counter-tariffs.

Trump has repeatedly raised the idea of renaming the lake in social media posts during the trade dispute. On Thursday, he said the change was now “official” and effective immediately.

The US president also said his administration had filed the necessary paperwork to implement the change.

Trump Targets Another Major Body Of Water

The latest move follows Trump's decision in 2025 to seek the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.

Mexico rejected that change, arguing that one country cannot unilaterally rename a shared international body of water. The dispute also involved Google after the technology company updated the name displayed on its US maps.

Trump's latest executive order directs the US Department of the Interior to update the Geographic Names Information Service, the official US database for domestic geographic names, to reflect the proposed change.

However, the US decision does not automatically require Canada to adopt the new name.

Canadian officials have already dismissed the proposal. Industry Minister Melanie Joly said earlier this week that Canada would continue to refer to the body of water as Lake Ontario.

Lake Ontario Is Shared By US And Canada

Lake Ontario is one of North America's five Great Lakes and lies between the Canadian province of Ontario and New York state in the US.

The names of several Great Lakes have Indigenous or historical origins. Lake Ontario is the smallest of the five Great Lakes but remains strategically and economically significant to both countries.

Trump said the renaming was not intended as a direct message to Canada, but linked the move to his broader criticism of Canada's trade policies.

He argued that the US had been treated unfairly in trade relations with its northern neighbour for years.

Joking about the possibility of further geographical renaming, Trump said that after a gulf and a lake, the US might eventually need to consider changing the names of the Atlantic or Pacific oceans.

US-Canada Trade Dispute Deepens

The naming dispute comes as Washington and Ottawa remain locked in difficult trade negotiations.

Talks collapsed late Friday after both sides accused the other of seeking last-minute changes to a tentative agreement.

There was, however, a sign on Thursday that negotiations could eventually resume.

Canadian Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc said the US had withdrawn some demands concerning French-language labelling and confirmed that measures designed to promote French language and Canadian culture would not be targeted by future US trade actions.

LeBlanc said Canada remained open to further constructive discussions that could create the possibility of a mutually beneficial agreement while respecting Canadian sovereignty.

For now, however, the proposed renaming of Lake Ontario adds another unusual dimension to a trade dispute that has already pushed US-Canada relations to new lows.