President Trump said Thursday he is renaming Lake Ontario to be known as "Lake America" in the United States as he exacerbates his trade war with Canada. The president signed an executive order that updated the lake's name for the US geographic naming service, the AP reports. Trump cannot force Canada to follow his preferred naming convention, however. Canadian officials have already said they won't recognize the name, reports CNBC. The move is reminiscent of Trump's move last year to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America."
Trump, who signed the order as he was sitting at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, had a large sign behind him propped on a stand with a map of the Great Lakes. Over Lake Ontario, in big red letters, the map read "Lake America." He told reporters that Canada is "the worst" to deal with on trade. "They feel entitled and we can't have that," he said. The president had been floating the idea of the name change in recent days after trade talks between the countries broke down, though it wasn't clear whether he was serious, CNBC notes.
- The official US-Canada border stretches across the water between Lake Ontario's northern and southern shores. The body of water forms much of New York state's coastline and separates Buffalo from Toronto, the capital of the province of Ontario. Toronto is Canada's most populous city and Ontario its most populous province.
- The lake's name comes from the Huron Indigenous people's word "oniatarí:io," which means "lake of shining waters," and it predates European settlement in the region. The province took its name from the lake.
- Trump's executive order directs Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to "take all appropriate action" to rename the lake within 30 days. "The Board on Geographic Names shall provide guidance to ensure all Federal Government references to Lake Ontario, including on executive department and agency maps, contracts, and other documents and communications, shall reflect its renaming," the order states.
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