Trump Action Archive

Supporting reports

• Trump signs executive order to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America — President Trump signed an executive order on Thursday directing federal agencies to rename Lake Ontario as "Lake America" on US maps, documents, and databases. The order follows a similar action renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America" on his second term's first day. Trump lacks authority to rename Canada's portion of the lake or compel international adoption of the name. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney rejected the move, citing the lake's Indigenous Wendat origin and historical precedence. Several US governors in the Great Lakes region also dismissed the renaming.
• Trump signs executive order renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America — Trump signed an executive order in the Oval Office designating Lake Ontario as "Lake America," effective immediately. He stated the administration is "changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America" and suggested potentially renaming the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Trump also suggested canceling subscriptions to media companies that refer to the lake by its original name, with an exception for Fox News.
• Trump issues executive order renaming Lake Ontario as Lake America — President Donald Trump issued an executive order on August 27, 2026, directing the Secretary of the Interior to rename Lake Ontario to "Lake America" within 30 days. The order asserts that the United States is the "greatest protector" of the Great Lakes, citing U.S. Coast Guard ice-breaking operations and $4 billion in ecosystem investments. The Secretary must coordinate with the Board on Geographic Names to update all federal references, maps, contracts, and the Geographic Names Information System to reflect the new name.
• Honoring the American History of the Great Lakes and Renaming Lake Ontario as Lake America — The White House published this executive order on 2026-08-27 through its executive-orders channel.
• Trump signed executive order renaming Lake Ontario — On Thursday, Trump signed an executive order directing the federal government to refer to Lake Ontario as "Lake America." The change applies only to the U.S. federal geographic naming system; Trump cannot force Canada to use the name, as the United States and Canada share the lake. The action occurred during an escalating trade dispute in which the United States imposed 50 percent tariffs on $20 billion in Canadian goods and Canada responded with retaliatory tariffs. Trump displayed a map with "LAKE AMERICA" printed across the lake and floated the possibility of renaming an ocean, suggesting the Atlantic or Pacific could be next. The original name derives from the Huron word "oniatarí:io," meaning "lake of shining waters."
• Trump signed executive order renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America — Trump signed an executive order directing Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to change the name of Lake Ontario to "Lake America" in all official U.S. government documents, communications, and the Geographic Names Information System. Trump framed the action as part of a broader effort to rename geographic features, referencing his earlier change of the Gulf of Mexico's name and suggesting future changes to the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The order appears designed to assert U.S. dominance over shared geography and pressure Canada.
• Trump signed executive order to rename Lake Ontario as "Lake America" during trade war — President Trump signed an executive order to rename Lake Ontario as "Lake America" amid an ongoing trade war between the U.S. and Canada. The action appears to be a symbolic gesture during heightened trade tensions with Canada, which shares sovereignty over the Great Lake.