US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order directing US federal agencies to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America”, escalating a symbolic dispute with Canada amid deteriorating trade relations between the two neighbours.
The order, signed on Thursday, requires US federal agencies to use the new name on government maps, official documents and databases.
However, the directive does not give Washington authority to rename Canada’s portion of the lake or compel Canada, international organisations, mapmakers or other countries to adopt the new designation.
Speaking after signing the order at the Oval Office, Trump joked that the United States now had a gulf and a lake named after America, adding that an ocean could be next.
“We have a Gulf and we have a Lake – now all we need is an ocean,” he told reporters.
A large map of the Great Lakes region displayed behind Trump showed “Lake America” in place of Lake Ontario.
The renaming comes as relations between Washington and Ottawa have deteriorated sharply over trade disputes.
Trade negotiations between the two countries reportedly broke down over the weekend, following which Trump imposed a 50 per cent tariff on several Canadian imports.
He has also threatened additional 50 per cent tariffs on Canadian steel, trucks, cars and auto parts from next year.
In response, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government has announced retaliatory tariffs ranging from 25 to 50 per cent on hundreds of US products.
Trump again criticised Canada, repeating his long-standing position that the country should not receive treatment similar to that of a US state.
“They want to be treated like a state, but they’re not a state,” Trump said, referring to his previous calls for Canada to become the 51st US state.
The US president also accused Canada of taking advantage of the United States through trade and cited what he described as a $60 billion US trade deficit with the country.
Economists, however, have pointed out that much of the US trade deficit with Canada is driven by American imports of Canadian oil. Excluding oil, the United States runs a significant trade surplus with Canada.
Trump also claimed that American farmers face tariffs of as much as 400 per cent when exporting agricultural products to Canada.
However, about 97 per cent of US agricultural exports to Canada enter duty-free under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), although tariffs on some over-quota dairy, egg and milk products can reach 300 per cent.
Trump further criticised the cost of US defence commitments to Canada, arguing that Washington receives little in return for protecting its northern neighbour.
The United States and Canada are both members of NATO and have mutual defence obligations under the North Atlantic Treaty, alongside other bilateral security arrangements.
Trump said the proposed name change had been under consideration for some time and would take effect immediately.
The move is likely to remain largely symbolic, as the lake is shared by the United States and Canada and its internationally recognised name remains Lake Ontario outside the scope of the US government’s authority.
