According to The Associated Press, on August 27 local time, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Lake Ontario would be renamed 'Lake United States' effective immediately. He signed an executive order and instructed the U.S. Department of the Interior to update the country's geographic name information system.
On August 27, Trump signed an executive order to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America”. Video screenshot from The Associated Press.
According to reports, on that day, there was a large sign placed behind Trump’s podium, featuring a map of the Great Lakes. On the map, Lake Ontario was marked with red letters in large font as “American Lake”.
On the other side of Trump’s desk lies another map, which reads: “Make the Great Lakes even greater.”
He stated that the command would "take effect immediately".
After signing this executive order, Trump stated, “Canada has long taken advantage of us in trade and military matters,” “We can’t keep going down this path.”
"We love the Canadian people," Trump said, "but I believe their representatives haven't done a good job. Perhaps they will change, I really don't know, it doesn't actually matter much."
Trump also said that he has renamed the Gulf of Mexico as the “American Bay”. “We have ‘bays’, we have ‘lakes’… now we just need an ‘ocean’. Maybe we should change the names of the Atlantic or Pacific.”
Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau issued a statement rejecting this name change.
On that day, he posted on social media that the name 'Ontario Lake' has a history of more than 400 years, predating the establishment of the Canadian federation and the issuance of the Declaration of Independence by the United States.
He pointed out that the name 'Ontario Lake' comes from the Native language, and this word very appropriately describes 'beautiful lakes, vast and expansive lakes'.
He emphasized that Canadians also understand that by respecting reality, its name is Lake Ontario—past, present, and forever.
Ontario Lake is one of the Great Lakes in North America, located at the border between the United States and Canada. The lake borders Ontario Province in Canada to the north and New York State in the United States to the south.
As trade conflicts between the United States and Canada continue to escalate, on the 25th, Trump posted on social media saying: "We are seriously considering renaming Lake Ontario to 'American Lake', as we expect that there will be no more economic and trade interactions with Ontario, Canada in the future."
