Trump renames Lake Ontario as 'Lake of America,' floats renaming Atlantic and Pacific

BAGHDAD, Iraq — U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order at the White House renaming Lake Ontario, one of the Great Lakes shared between the United States and Canada, as the "Lake of America," using a red pen during a ceremony on Tuesday. The move comes as part of Washington's pressure strategy toward Ottawa. The United States recently imposed a 50 percent tariff on $20 billion worth of Canadian imports, and Canada responded with a matching retaliatory tariff. Speaking to reporters at the White House the same day, Trump said the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans could also be renamed. Reminding reporters that the Gulf of Mexico had been changed to the "Gulf of America," Trump said: "Now we have the Gulf of America and the Lake of America, now we need an ocean too; maybe we'll have to change the names of the Atlantic and Pacific, maybe we'll rename them." The decision is seen as a new phase in a broader U.S. geographic-naming strategy aimed at reinforcing American dominance over strategic waterways. Trump signed the order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America" on January 20, 2025, and also renamed Denali, North America's highest peak, as "Mount McKinley." No further details on a timeline for renaming the oceans were immediately available.