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President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario “Lake America,” then joked that the Atlantic and Pacific oceans could be next.
“As you know, we took something called the Gulf of Mexico, we changed it, and now it’s very routinely the Gulf of America,” Trump said.
“So if you think about it, we have a gulf and we have a lake. Now all we need is an ocean,” he continued. “So maybe we’ll have to change the name of the Atlantic and or the Pacific. Maybe we’ll change them both.”
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Trump declared the Lake Ontario change “official, effective immediately” while announcing the order.
“And finally, it’s the purpose of this more than anything else is we’re going to be changing the name of Lake Ontario, effective immediately to Lake America,” Trump said. “That’s going to take place right now as I signed the order.”
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The president said the administration had “filed all the necessary papers, documents, everything else” and notified the relevant parties.
“So we’ve done everything that you have to do. And this is official, effective immediately,” Trump said.
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The order directs Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, working with the Board on Geographic Names, to take steps within 30 days to rename the lake in the federal Geographic Names Information System and remove references to “Lake Ontario.”
It also directs the board to ensure federal maps, contracts, documents and agency communications use the new name.
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The order does not control the name used by Canada, which borders the lake along with New York.
It is not Trump’s first effort to put an American stamp on a major body of water.
On his first day back in office, Trump signed Executive Order 14172, “Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness,” directing the federal government to use “Gulf of America” in place of the Gulf of Mexico.
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Trump later signed a proclamation declaring Feb. 9, 2025, the first “Gulf of America Day” while aboard Air Force One over the newly renamed gulf en route to Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans.
“Today, I am very honored to recognize February 9, 2025, as the first ever Gulf of America Day,” Trump wrote in the proclamation.
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Burgum said at the time that the Interior Department had implemented Trump’s instruction from the executive order.
The Lake America order invokes that same policy, arguing that the United States is the “greatest protector” of the Great Lakes system.
It points to nearly $4 billion in U.S. freshwater ecosystem investment over the last decade, as well as the Coast Guard’s fleet of icebreaking vessels.
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“The United States has invested nearly $4 billion in protecting the Great Lakes freshwater ecosystem in the last decade, while Canada has invested far less in similar initiatives over the same period,” the order states.
The order also cites the lake’s historic role in American trade, settlement, defense, commerce and energy, arguing it remains a major economic and strategic resource for the United States.
“In recognition of this flourishing economic resource and its critical importance to our Nation’s economy and its people, I am directing that the Lake officially be renamed as Lake America,” Trump wrote.
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Trump’s comments about renaming the Atlantic and Pacific appeared to be a joke. He announced no executive action or formal effort targeting either ocean.
The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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