Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., announced plans to introduce legislation that would nullify President Donald Trump's executive order to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America. The proposed "Hands Off Our Great Lakes Act" seeks to restore the lake's original name and void any actions taken under Trump's directive.
Dingell stated on X, "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."
President Trump's executive order, signed on August 27, 2026, directed the updating of the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) to reflect the renaming and to ensure all federal government references to the lake use its new designation. A message from U.S. Geological Survey Director Dr. Ned Mamula, posted by Trump on Truth Social, indicated that the USGS had officially designated the lake as Lake America in electronic documents and that the change was reflected in the GNIS.
The renaming occurred amid escalating U.S.-Canada trade disputes. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney also voiced opposition, noting that the name Lake Ontario originates from the Wendat word "Ontari’io," meaning "the lake is beautiful, the lake is big," and predates both Canada's Confederation and the U.S. Declaration of Independence. Carney affirmed, "Canadians also know that naming reality means calling it Lake Ontario – then, now and always."
Dingell's proposed legislation aims to declare Trump's order and subsequent actions regarding the renaming as having "no force or effect."