Donald Trump, still trapped in a war with Iran, with the cost of living steadily rising, with his approval ratings falling to record lows, and with potentially crushing midterm elections just around the corner, has ordered that Lake Ontario be renamed “The Lake of America” or “Lake America”.
Trump made the executive order last night amidst an escalating and bitter trade war with Canada, announcing to the Oval Office (as per Fox News) that “The Lake of America was something I’ve been thinking about for a long time, actually. As you know, we took something called the Gulf of Mexico – we changed it – and now it’s very routinely the Gulf of America.”
EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY: Lake Ontario is renamed to LAKE AMERICA! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/ZFww8PexiW
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 27, 2026
The executive order describes the United States as the “greatest protector of the Great Lakes”, claiming that, “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.
“Lake Ontario – then, now and always”
It perhaps goes without saying that Canada isn’t particularly happy about this, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney took to X to point out that the name “Lake Ontario” originates from a Wendat word meaning “the lake is beautiful, the lake is big”, that it’s been called Lake Ontario for more than 400 years, and predates both the Confederation of Canada and the United States of America.
The name Lake Ontario comes from the Wendat word Ontari’io, which, appropriately, means “the lake is beautiful, the lake is big”.
— Mark Carney (@MarkJCarney) August 27, 2026
The name is more than 400 years old, predating both the Confederation of Canada and the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America.…
“We know that America is changing. Their trading relationships, their foreign policies, their national monuments, their hydronyms. Canadians also know that naming reality means calling it Lake Ontario – then, now and always.”
Trump then went on to tease potentially renaming the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to something like “The Ocean of America” or “America Ocean”, saying, “So, if you think about it, we have a gulf and we have a lake,” he said. “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.”
The renaming has already attracted much criticism. Senator Bernie Sanders rounded on Trump for prioritizing this when the standard of living for regular Americans is falling:
No, President Trump. The American people don’t want to rename Lake Ontario Lake America.
— Sen. Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) August 27, 2026
They want affordable healthcare, childcare, housing, education & nutrition assistance — all of which you have massively cut in order to pay for your $1 trillion tax break to the top 1%. https://t.co/G6dmmW1ITg
House Democrat Debbie Dingell has already said she’s planning to introduce a bill on Monday morning nullifying the name change, with the title “Hands Off Our Great Lakes Act”. She describes Trump’s decision as “insane”, with the one-page bill simply seeking to cancel the executive order without further debate.
If you say “Lake America” normal people will automatically think you’re a loser and will rightly disregard your opinion
— Harry Sisson (@harryjsisson) August 27, 2026
Meanwhile, political commentator Harry Sisson summed up the general reaction by saying: If you say “Lake America” normal people will automatically think you’re a loser and will rightly disregard your opinion.”
