Trump signs order to rename Lake Ontario to Lake America

What the report says

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order directing federal agencies to recognize Lake Ontario as Lake America, according to BBC World News. The move follows a breakdown in US-Canada trade talks late last week and comes alongside fresh US tariffs on Canadian goods, with Ottawa planning counter-tariffs next month. Trump said the change was effective immediately and that the paperwork had been filed.

The lake is one of the Great Lakes shared by the United States and Canada, and the naming dispute quickly drew pushback from Canadian officials. Prime Minister Mark Carney and other ministers said they would continue calling it Lake Ontario, while Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston dismissed the order as foolishness. BBC reported that the White House wants the Interior Department to update the US geographic names database, but Canada is under no obligation to adopt the new name.

The report places the decision in the context of Trump’s broader efforts to rename geographic features, including his earlier move to call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. That prior change triggered resistance from Mexico and a dispute involving Google Maps. BBC notes that there is no single international authority setting names for shared waters, so the practical effect of Trump’s order may be limited outside the United States.