Trump Renames Lake Ontario to Lake America via Executive Order

US President Donald Trump has initiated a new geographical dispute along the Canadian border by announcing plans to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America. This move occurs amid escalating trade tensions between Washington and Ottawa. This analysis examines the details of Trump’s announcement, the feasibility of the renaming, and the implications for international nomenclature.

Trump’s Executive Action

During a news conference in the White House Oval Office on Thursday, Trump signed an executive order officially changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America. Located in North America, the lake straddles the border between the Canadian province of Ontario and the US state of New York. The name “Lake Ontario” originates from the Wendat language word “oniatarí:io” spoken by the Huron Indigenous people, which translates to “lake of shining waters,” “great lake,” or “beautiful lake.”

Derek Alderman, chancellor’s professor of geography at the University of Tennessee, explained to Al Jazeera that the original name signifies a native presence predating both the US and Canada, crucial for expressing North America’s historical depth. He added that the executive order attempts to erase Indigenous culture from the map, reflecting an “America-first” ideology and a neocolonial geographic imagination where names become tools to narrow whose histories and contributions are valued. The province of Ontario, founded in 1867, derives its name from the lake. Historically, the body of water survived French attempts to rename it in the 17th and 18th centuries, with the name first appearing as “Lac Ontario” on 17th-century maps, replacing earlier names honoring French officials or saints.

The Motivation Behind the Renaming

Trump declared the name change “effective immediately,” linking it to trade disputes with Ottawa and asserting that Canada “has been ripping us off for a long time.” He remarked, “Well, they haven’t treated us well. The Canadian officials have treated us very badly. They’re nasty people,” adding, “So the lake change – the Lake of America – was something I’ve been thinking about for a long time, actually.” However, the actual text of the executive order dictates that the Secretary of the Interior will have 30 days to coordinate the name change with the Board on Geographic Names. Doug Burgum, the US Secretary of the Interior, is not named in the order. The economic relationship between the US and Canada has been strained since Trump’s first term (2017–2021), and they are currently engaged in a renewed tariff war following failed negotiations. Last week, Trump imposed 50 percent tariffs on nearly $20 billion worth of Canadian goods, prompting Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to promise retaliatory “dollar-for-dollar” tariffs starting September 8.

Alderman noted, “I don’t anticipate that the Lake Ontario name change will do anything to assist [in] the trade war with Canada,” warning that the abrupt and unilateral nature of the mandate could damage the US’s negotiating position by inflaming defensive anxieties in Canada.

Canadian Response

Prime Minister Carney firmly dismissed the renaming order. “The name is more than 400 years old, predating both the Confederation of Canada and the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America,” Carney stated in an X post. “Canadians also know that naming reality means calling it Lake Ontario – then, now and always.” Ontario Premier Doug Ford similarly asserted on X, “It’s Lake Ontario to Canadians and the rest of the world. Now and forever.” Tim Houston, premier of Nova Scotia, also criticized the move, writing, “We’re into some real foolishness now. It’s Lake Ontario, buddy.”

Domestic Opposition

Although Trump technically possesses the authority to rename the lake within the US, his order faces domestic resistance as well. Democratic New York Governor Kathy Hochul explicitly refused to use the new name, stating, “New York won’t be calling it that.” Alderman pointed out an important caveat: the change holds no authority over how US private entities, such as companies, nonprofits, and news outlets, refer to the lake. He explained that research indicates a frequent disconnect between official mandates and community usage, noting that “this possible dissonance or disconnect can, at the end of the day, shape and in fact lessen the power of a federal mandate.”

Legal and Practical Limitations

While Trump can rename the lake, he cannot compel others to adopt the new name. There is no single, binding international authority dictating the names of shared bodies of water, nor are there formal international laws standardizing the names of disputed maritime spaces. The International Hydrographic Bureau (IHB) standardizes names for navigable waters, and the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN) provides guidance, but neither enforces these names. Domestically, the US Board on Geographic Names oversees nomenclature and typically “discourages name changes unless there is a compelling reason.” Although the board reports to the Secretary of the Interior and thus the current administration, Alderman noted it “at least establishes an institutional procedure for review, consultation, evidence gathering, and consideration of competing claims.” Ultimately, no governing body can prevent Trump from renaming the lake, yet none can force other nations to recognize his chosen name.

Alderman criticized the unilateral decree, stating, “The cost at stake with this renaming Lake Ontario is the loss of yet another democratic process in the United States.” Professor Gail Krantzberg of McMaster University emphasized that because the water body is transnational, “no other jurisdiction needs to abide,” and federal agencies will need to update their maps while Canada maintains its historical usage.

Global Naming Disputes

Diplomatic tensions between neighboring nations have historically sparked prolonged naming conflicts over maritime spaces. Japan and Korea have long disputed the sea between them, with Tokyo calling it the Sea of Japan and Seoul insisting on the East Sea. The South China Sea is similarly contested, with the Philippines advocating for the West Philippine Sea and Vietnam preferring the East Sea. Additionally, what Iran calls the Persian Gulf is referred to as the Arabian Gulf by Arab nations.

Precedent of Presidential Renaming

Trump is no stranger to renaming geographical features. In January of last year, he issued an executive order to rename Alaska’s Mount Denali back to Mount McKinley, honoring former Republican President William McKinley. The peak had been renamed Denali in 2015 by former President Barack Obama, recognizing the Indigenous Alaskan name meaning “the high one.” Also in January, Trump signed an order renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which drew criticism from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. The Gulf of Mexico has been known by that name for roughly 400 years, with historical records dating back to Richard Hakluyt’s 1589 publication referring to it as the “Gulfe of Mexico.”

International and Mapping Agency Responses

Just as other countries are not obligated to adopt Trump’s preferred names, international organizations are similarly exempt. The United Nations continues to use established names for contested bodies of water, such as the Gulf of Mexico. Google Maps also maintains a localized approach; following Trump’s orders, the platform changed the names for US users while displaying both names internationally. For instance, the sea between Japan and Korea appears as the Sea of Japan in Japan, the East Sea in South Korea, and “Sea of Japan (East Sea)” elsewhere.

Alderman expressed concern over the educational impact, stating, “I worry about what broader educational and psychological deficits will be passed down to American classrooms required to use Lake America… Those classrooms run the risk of communicating a myopic sense of place that diminishes Indigenous histories and the United States’s deep connections with Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central and South America.”

Source link