TORONTO — President Donald Trump said Thursday he is renaming Lake Ontario to be known as “Lake America” in the U.S. as he exacerbates his trade war with Canada. The Republican president signed an executive order updating the lake’s name for the U.S. geographic naming service. Trump cannot, however, force Canada to follow his preferred naming convention.

The president has been floating the idea of the name change in recent days as the U.S. announced it was imposing 50% tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods over the weekend after talks between the countries broke down. Canada struck back on Tuesday, slapping retaliatory tariffs on about $20 billion worth of U.S. goods, from industrial products to everyday purchases.

Trump said as he was signing the order that he’d “notified all of the various people that we have to notify. So, we’ve done everything that you have to do.”

“And this is official, effective immediately,” he added.

But the executive order Trump signed shows that the changes are supposed to be made within 30 days.

CARNEY AND OTHER OFFICIALS RESPOND

Prime Minister Mark Carney issued a statement on Instagram following the news, saying:

“The name Lake Ontario comes from the Wendat word Ontari’io, which, appropriately means ‘the lake is beautiful, the lake is big.’

“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.

“We know that America is changing. Their trading relationships, their foreign policies, their national monuments, their hydronyms.

“Canadians also know that naming reality means calling it Lake Ontario – then, now and always.”

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston said, “We’re into some real foolishness now. It’s Lake Ontario, buddy.”

And Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who has traded insults with Trump, said on X: “It’s Lake Ontario to Canadians and the rest of the world. Now and forever.”

Ford told The Associated Press earlier this week that Ronald Reagan would be “throwing up” and “disgusted with President Trump” over Trump’s tariff policies and his departure from Reagan’s free-trade legacy. Trump, in turn, called Ford Carney’s “flunky” and mocked him as the “less charismatic, intelligent, and overall unimpressive brother” of the late Toronto Mayor Rob Ford.

CIVIC BUFFS ‘SHAME’ TRUMP’S MOVE

Civics buffs on the internet were also quick to point out how it would change one of their childhood geography lessons.

Students are taught that one way to remember the names of the Great Lakes is to use the mnemonic H-O-M-E-S, which stands for Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior.

Now, they say, taking out Ontario and adding America would change the acronym to S-H-A-M-E.

With file from The Associated Press

Lead image caption: President Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House, Aug. 27, 2026 — Credit AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta