Washington, DC: US President Donald Trump has signed an order directing federal agencies to refer to Lake Ontario as “Lake America” in official documents and records, adding another point of tension to the growing dispute between the United States and Canada.
The order applies to how the US government identifies the lake, but it cannot require Canada or private citizens on either side of the border to use the new name.
EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY: Lake Ontario is renamed to LAKE AMERICA! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/ZFww8PexiW
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 27, 2026
Trump linked the decision to his broader complaints about Canada, including trade tensions and what he described as the cost of US defence support. Speaking in the Oval Office, he said, “You know, we defend Canada for nothing. We don’t get anything. They don’t pay us to defend Canada, but we defend Canada, and they understand that.”
Trump had already hinted at the renaming earlier this week in a TikTok video, where he showed a map of the Great Lakes and used a marker to replace “Lake Ontario” with “LAKE AMERICA.”
The move comes amid worsening relations between the two countries, with Trump repeatedly criticising Canada over trade and previously describing it as a potential “51st state.”
