Donald Trump signs the executive order in the Oval Office of the White House on 27 August 2026 in Washington DC. Photograph: Andrew Harnik/Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenDonald Trump signs the executive order in the Oval Office of the White House on 27 August 2026 in Washington DC.
Prefer the Guardian on GoogleDonald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday directing the federal government to rename Lake Ontario, making it Lake America, amid his escalating trade war with Canada.
The order directs federal agencies to adopt the name-change on US maps, documents and databases. But Trump has no authority to rename Canada’s portion of the lake, nor to compel Canada, international legal bodies, international mapmakers, or the rest of the world to adopt a new name.
The move follows a similar action the president took on the first day of his second term in office, when he signed an order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America”.
Propped behind him was a large map of the Great Lakes region, with “Lake America” printed in red lettering above Lake Ontario.
The latest tweak of Canada’s nose by the US president comes as tensions fray between the US and its northern neighbor. Over the weekend, trade talks between Washington and Ottawa collapsed and the US imposed a 50% tariff on several Canadian imports, with Trump threatening another round of 50% duties on Canadian steel, trucks, cars and auto parts to take effect in the new year.
Mark Carney, Canada’s prime minister, hit back with 25-50% tariffs on hundreds of US goods.
Trump claimed that American farmers are being charged a 400% tariff; about 97% of US agricultural exports to Canada enter duty-free under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, though over-quota eggs, milk and dairy have Canadian tariffs of up to 300%.
Both Canada and the United States are Nato members and have treaty obligations of mutual defense under the North Atlantic Treaty, the Ogdensburg Agreement and numerous other treaties.
Trump claimed the name change was something he had been considering for “a long time”.
An administration official noted that the lake bordering Canada and the state of New York has most of its volume in the United States and that the deepest part of the lake is in United States territory.
