President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he has signed an order renaming Lake Ontario as "Lake America," a move that escalates a simmering dispute with Canada.
"We’re going to be changing the name of Lake Ontario effective immediately to Lake America," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. He added that the renaming had been under consideration for a long time.
The renaming order comes as trade talks between the United States and Canada have collapsed, with both nations blaming the other for the breakdown. Intensive negotiations that lasted three days concluded last week without resolution.
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes and forms part of the border between the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of New York. Approximately 52% of the lake's surface area lies within Canada, according to a 1909 treaty, with the remainder in New York.
This is not the first time Trump has ordered a geographic renaming. He previously ordered the Gulf of Mexico to be renamed the Gulf of America shortly after assuming office. The U.S. Board on Geographic Names, part of the Department of the Interior, officially updated federal nomenclature to reflect that change roughly two weeks after the order, making it effective immediately for federal use.
No immediate response to the Lake Ontario renaming was available from Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's office.
Recent polling suggests a generally favorable view of Canada among Americans. A Reuters/Ipsos poll in May indicated that 72% of Americans held a favorable view of Canada, a higher percentage than for Germany or Mexico and approximately double Trump's own approval rating at the time.