Trump signs executive order changing name of Lake Ontario to Lake America

President Trump holds up an executive order changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America.

"We're gonna be changing the name of Lake Ontario, effective immediately, to Lake America," President Donald Trump told reporters gathered in the Oval Office on Thursday. “Effective immediately, right now as I sign the order.”

When asked by a reporter, Trump said there was no specific message meant for Canada with the renaming. But clearly the standoff over tariffs between the two countries was on his mind. “As you know, Canada's been ripping us off for a long time on trade, very sadly,” Trump said. “Even the military. We defend Canada for nothing.”

Shortly after Trump signed the order, the official White House X account posted an image of a map with the new name.

Trump also suggested the U.S. would be implementing new tariffs on certain goods from Canada. “We’re going to be doing tariffs on their cars that are coming in because we want them to make the cars here,” Trump said. He went on to say Canada has imposed numerous unfair trade barriers against the U.S. over the years. 

Shortly after the order was signed, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick talked with reporters about the trade tensions with Canada, and why the recent talks broke down. "I spoke to Mark Carney twice in the 24 hours before this ended," Lutnick said, adding that Canada could've had the best trade deal in the world before walking away from the negotiating table. "Canada made the decision for political purposes."

Trump said he'd been mulling the name change for a while, recalling having changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America upon his return to office last year. Below, watch Trump's remarks from the Oval Office.