President Donald Trump has signed an executive order directing that Lake Ontario, one of North America’s five Great Lakes, be officially renamed Lake America.
The move follows a broader pattern of Trump administration efforts to rename or rebrand geographic landmarks with names that reflect American identity and national pride.
Lake Ontario, which sits on the border between the United States and the Canadian province of Ontario, is the smallest of the five Great Lakes by surface area.
The renaming order applies to the American side of the lake, though the international nature of the body of water raises questions about how broadly the new name can be enforced.
Canada has not indicated it will adopt the new name, meaning the two neighboring countries could officially refer to the same body of water by different names going forward.
This is not the first time the Trump administration has sought to rename a major geographic feature, having previously moved to restore the name Mount McKinley to Alaska’s Denali and rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
The Lake Ontario renaming order is expected to direct federal agencies, maps, and official U.S. government documents to reflect the new designation of Lake America.
Critics of the move have argued that unilaterally renaming a shared international waterway is both symbolically provocative and practically complicated given its cross-border geography.
Supporters of the administration view such renamings as a straightforward exercise of executive authority and a reflection of Trump’s longstanding emphasis on American branding and identity.
The order adds another chapter to what has become a recurring feature of Trump’s second term, using the power of the presidency to reshape how American landmarks and shared spaces are officially designated.
