President Donald Trump has ordered the renaming of Lake Ontario to Lake America, a move that has drawn anger from residents of the New York town of Ontario, which shares its name with the body of water. The decision, announced Thursday, is part of the president's ongoing trade dispute with Canada and aims to make the Great Lakes "Even Greater."
The rural town of Ontario, with a population of approximately 10,000, sits on the U.S. border and has a history spanning over a century. Many residents view the name change as a dismissal of their community's heritage.
"I don't think the lake's name should be changed because it's history," Dave Rupp, a Trump voter and owner of the town's liquidation store, told The Washington Post. "And I don't like changing history."
Cassandra Tylenda, another resident who voted for Trump, expressed a similar sentiment, stating she preferred "Lake Ontario better" but felt powerless to contest the change. Serena Eaton, a local resident, suggested the renaming was a diversion from other national and international issues, such as the Epstein files and the war in Gaza. "America doesn't just own the lake," Eaton remarked, adding that while she would not call it Lake America, she anticipated many in her "redneck" town would accept the change without critical thought.
Trump marked the occasion by posting an AI-generated GIF of himself erecting a "Welcome to Lake America" sign on the shores of the lake.
The executive order does not obligate Canada or international bodies to adopt the new name. Canadian officials have publicly opposed the decision. Prime Minister Mark Carney decried the move, emphasizing the lake's Indigenous roots from a Wendat word meaning "the lake is beautiful, the lake is great." He noted that Lake Ontario has retained its name for longer than the U.S. has existed as a nation.
In a symbolic act of protest, Ontario Premier Doug Ford erected a large "Lake Ontario" sign on the Canadian side of the border, declaring "Lake Ontario. Now and Always."
Conversely, some residents expressed support for the renaming. Serafino Rosso, a 41-year-old resident of Ontario, told The Post that she favored renaming both the lake and the town to "Town of America on the Lake of America," citing patriotic feelings and a sense that the area previously felt "Canadian."
Despite such views, social media commentary largely opposed the name change, with many vowing to continue using "Lake Ontario."
Google Maps has updated its platform to reflect the name change to "Lake America." In a statement, the company clarified that this alteration "does not have any impact on Canadian naming conventions or how the rest of the world refers to the lake." Users in Canada will continue to see "Lake Ontario," while those outside the U.S. and Canada will see both names. This approach mirrors Google's response to Trump's earlier renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America."
Lake Ontario is a vital part of the international boundary between New York and the Canadian province of Ontario, jointly managed under the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty for over a century.
Trump indicated that further geographical name alterations might be considered, humorously suggesting that the Atlantic or Pacific Oceans could be next, following the precedent set by the "Gulf of America."