Politics · Trump renames Lake OntarioTrump Signs Order Renaming Lake Ontario to Lake AmericaAired August 28, 2026 at 7:17 PM UTCWritten September 7, 2026 at 9:22 PM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:00President Trump signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario as Lake America.0:04The order applies only to U.S.0:06federal use, but it lands amid a trade war with Canada, which is set to impose0:10counter tariffs on $20 billion of American goods on September 8th.0:13So, will the new name stick anywhere beyond federal documents?0:16The order, titled Honoring the American History of the Great Lakes and Renaming Lake0:21Ontario as Lake America, cites the Geographic Names Act and directs Interior0:25Secretary Doug Bergham to work with the Board on Geographic Names to update the0:29federal naming system within 30 days, remove all references to Lake Ontario, and0:33guide federal agencies to use the new name.0:35But the order's stated basis rests on a geography that doesn't match the lake0:39itself.0:40The order claims the U.S.0:41holds most of the lake's volume, but the surface area split is roughly half in each0:45country.0:45The order claims the U.S.0:47holds most of the lake's volume, but the surface area split is roughly half, about0:5147 to 48 percent in the U.S., chiefly New York, and about 52 percent in Canada.0:56New York Governor Kathy Hochul rejected it outright.1:05Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney noted the name is over 400 years old.1:16Industry Minister Melanie Jolie was even blunter.1:25The name itself is indigenous in origin.1:28Ontario traces to a Wendat word, Ontario, meaning beautiful lake or great lake, in1:34use for the lake since at least the 17th century.1:37Canada's reciprocal counter tariffs, 15, 25, and 50% on roughly1:42C$27.6 billion, about $20 billion of U.S.1:46goods across roughly 700 products, take effect September 8th, matching the 50% U.S.1:52duties already imposed on about $20 billion of Canadian goods.1:55The targets include steel and aluminum, raised to 50% in many cases, plus dairy,2:00appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, electronics, furniture,2:05clothing, and seafood.2:06The renaming is built on the same template the President used on January 20, 2025,2:11when Executive Order 14172 turned the Gulf of Mexico's U.S.2:15continental shelf area into the Gulf of America.2:18That order also cited the Geographic Names Act.2:21Mexico later sued Google over the Gulf of America label, and that case remains2:25unresolved.2:26The tariff escalation is set to take effect on September 8th, and the Interior2:30Department has a 30-day deadline to update the federal naming system.2:34So will the new name stick?2:35The order only changes U.S.2:37federal nomenclature and it affects only this lake, not any other great lakes.2:41Canadian maps, New York state usage, and everyday speech are untouched.2:44With the tariff escalation set to take effect in under two weeks, the question is2:48whether this symbolic renaming intensifies the trade fight or ends up confined to2:51federal documents.Explore with HeyDexThe shortThe short ↗