OTTAWA (dpa-AFX) - Amidst an ongoing trade war with Canada, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to rename 'Lake Ontario,' the waters bounded by the United States, as 'Lake America.'
Trump ordered the Secretary of the Interior, in concurrence with the Board on Geographic Names, to update the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) to reflect the renaming of the Lake and remove all references to Lake Ontario from the GNIS within 30 days.
The Board on Geographic Names has been directed to provide guidance to ensure all Federal Government references to Lake Ontario, including on executive department and agency maps, contracts, and other documents and communications, to reflect its renaming.
The United States is the greatest protector of the Great Lakes, including the body of water currently known as Lake Ontario, the executive order says. 'Without the security and investment provided by the United States, this freshwater system would not be open for shipping, recreation, and responsible use to the same extent as it is today. The United States Coast Guard supplies 9 of the 11 ice breaking vessels on the Great Lakes, securing commercial shipping lanes free of charge'.
'The United States has invested nearly $4 billion in protecting the Great Lakes freshwater ecosystem in the last decade, while Canada has invested far less in similar initiatives over the same period,' the White House said.
After signing the order in the Oval Office Thursday, Trump said, 'Lake of America' was something I've been thinking about for a long time. We have a gulf and we have a lake. Now, all we need is an ocean. So, maybe we'll have to change the name of the Atlantic and/or the Pacific. Maybe we'll change them both.'
In a similar executive order last year, Trump renamed the Gulf of Mexico as the 'Gulf of America,' evoking protests from Mexican officials.
Trump's renaming of Lake Ontario met with strong reaction by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who vowed that his country would 'forever' call it Lake Ontario.
'The name Lake Ontario comes from the Wendat word Ontari'io, which, appropriately, means 'the lake is beautiful, the lake is big,' he wrote on X. 'We know that the United States is changing. Their trade relations, their foreign policy, their national monuments, their hydronyms. Canadian women and men also know that things must be called by their name, and this lake is called Lake Ontario - today and forever.'
As there is no universally recognized international body setting the names of international waters, Canada is not bound by Trump's order to accept the new name.
The smallest of the five Great Lakes, Lake Ontario is located in both the United States and Canada because the international border runs directly through the middle of the water.
The northern, western, and southwestern shores are bordered by the Canadian province of Ontario. Major Canadian cities on the lake include Toronto, Hamilton, and Kingston.
The southern and eastern shores are bordered by the U.S. state of New York. Major American cities on the lake include Rochester and Oswego.
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