Trump signs order renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America
President Donald Trump signs an executive order renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America and speaks to reporters in the Oval Office.
Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich. declared that she will introduce legislation targeting President Donald Trump's executive order to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America.
"The Great Lakes are a shared treasure that generations of Americans and Canadians have worked together to protect. That’s why I'm introducing legislation to keep Lake Ontario as Lake Ontario and block President Trump’s idiotic order," Dingell declared in a Thursday post on X.
The president's executive order called for updating "the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) to reflect the renaming of the Lake and remove all references to Lake Ontario from the GNIS, consistent with applicable law."
The order also stated that, "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."
TRUMP RENAMES LAKE ONTARIO 'LAKE AMERICA' AMID INTENSIFYING US-CANADA TRADE DISPUTE
Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., attends a General Election Kickoff Rally at Renaissance High School in Detroit, Michigan, on Aug. 7, 2026. (JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP via Getty Images)
Trump posted to Truth Social on Thursday what appeared to be the content of a message from U.S. Geological Survey Director Dr. Ned Mamula.
"As of 4:30 pm today the U.S. Geological Survey has officially designated the former Lake Ontario to be renamed as Lake America in all official USGS electronic documents," Mamula noted. "The change will begin occurring in printed documents over the next several days. This change has also been made official in the Geographic Names Information System."
Dingell's post on X linked to a Politico report, which stated that Dingell noted in an interview that she plans to introduce a measure on Monday to nullify Trump's move to change the lake's name.
NEW YORK GOV HOCHUL REJECTS TRUMP'S 'LAKE AMERICA' RENAMING WITH BLUNT MESSAGE
President Donald Trump signs an executive order that aims to rename Lake Ontario to Lake America in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 27, 2026. (Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images)
The report linked to a copy of Dingell’s proposed "Hands Off Our Great Lakes Act," which would declare that Trump’s Aug. 27 order renaming Lake Ontario "Lake America," along with actions taken under it, has "no force or effect."
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and to Dingell's office early on Friday morning.
TRUMP FLOATS RENAMING THE ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC OCEANS AFTER REBRANDING HISTORIC LAKE
"Making the Great Lakes Even Greater" signage during an executive order signing in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (Al Drago/The Washington Post/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney declared in a Thursday post on X, "The name Lake Ontario comes from the Wendat word Ontari’io, which, appropriately, means 'the lake is beautiful, the lake is big'. 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," Carney said in the post.
