Trump Orders Lake Ontario Renamed ‘Lake America’ Amid Canada-U.S. Trade War

U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order seeking to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America” with immediate effect, amid escalating tensions between Canada and the United States over trade.

The lake, which lies along the Canada-U.S. border, has become the latest target of Trump’s symbolic naming campaign after trade talks between Washington and Ottawa broke down completely.

Trump had threatened in recent days to take the symbolic step, although it was initially unclear whether the U.S. president was serious about actually changing the name. Canadian officials, however, have already made it clear that Canada will not recognize the new name.

After signing the order in the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump told reporters that his administration had submitted all the necessary paperwork and documents related to the change.

According to the report, the executive order directs the U.S. Secretary of the Interior and the department to update the Geographic Names Information System. The move would record that the body of water historically known as Lake Ontario should henceforth be referred to as “Lake America” in U.S. government records.

The move is similar to Trump’s decision last year to direct U.S. agencies to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.”

The proposed renaming is expected to add another symbolic point of tension between Canada and the United States at a time when relations between the two countries remain strained over trade.