Lake America
Created by executive order, August 27, 2026
- Used by
- Federal agencies: maps, contracts, documents, communications
- Required for
- Federal government usage only
- New York's position
- Not adopted
- Canada's position
- Not adopted
Executive order, signed August 27, 2026
Lake Ontario (Lake America): The Renaming, Explained
Official title: “Honoring the American History of the Great Lakes and Renaming Lake Ontario as Lake America.”
President Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to refer to Lake Ontario as Lake America on federal maps, contracts, and communications. The order does not bind New York State, Canada, or private companies. Neither New York nor Canada has adopted the new name.
What actually changed
Lake Ontario
Lake America
Federal use only
- Signed
- 2026-08-27
- Implements via
- DOI / Board on Geographic Names
- Deadline
- ~2026-09-26
- Binds
- Federal agencies
- New York
- Not adopted
- Canada
- Not adopted
What the order does
Federal paperwork only, not the lake itself
The order tells the federal government what to call the lake. It does not rename it for anyone else.
| Detail | Fact |
|---|---|
| Signed | August 27, 2026, by President Trump |
| Implementing official | Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, through the U.S. Board on Geographic Names |
| Deadline | 30 days from signing, or by around September 26, 2026, to update the federal Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) |
| Legal scope | Federal agency maps, contracts, documents, and communications only |
| Not covered | New York State, Canada, and private companies are all free to keep using Lake Ontario |
| Stated rationale | The order ties the change to the trade dispute with Canada and to a claim that the United States holds the deepest, majority portion of the lake's volume |
| As of Aug 28, 2026 | The federal GNIS database had not yet been confirmed updated; the 30 day window was still open |
Every row above traces to a source in the endnotes below. Nothing on this page is estimated or invented.
Instrument readings
Live lake conditions
This strip reads from the same lake-data feed as the flagship map, at /api/conditions. Readings below show “--” until that feed connects.
Water Temp
--°F
NDBC buoy, source pending
Live reading temporarily unavailable.
Water Level
--ft IGLD85
NOAA CO-OPS / Army Corps
Live reading temporarily unavailable.
Wave Height
--ft
Open-lake marine forecast
Buoy 45012 does not report wave height.
Wind
--kts
NWS open-lake marine zone
Live reading temporarily unavailable.
Ice Cover
Ice cover data is not yet available.
Full layer set (temperature, levels, waves, webcams, beaches, depth, marinas, charters) lives on the map.
See full conditions on lakeamericamap.com →
Side by side
Both names, and who actually uses each one
One lake, two names in circulation right now. Here is what each one means in practice. This stacks to two cards on small screens, nothing is hidden off screen.
Lake Ontario
From the Wendat word Ontari’io, in use for more than 400 years
- Used by
- New York State, Canada, and most maps, media, and everyday speech
- Required for
- No requirement to change; nothing to opt into
- New York's position
- Keeping it (Gov. Kathy Hochul, Aug 27, 2026)
- Canada's position
- Keeping it (PM Mark Carney, Aug 27, 2026)
Ontari’io is widely translated as: the lake is beautiful, the lake is big. The name predates both Canadian Confederation and the U.S. Declaration of Independence.
Adoption tracker
Who actually calls it Lake America?
Nineteen governments, map providers, newsrooms, and agencies, each with its current position, a date, and a source. This is the scoreboard for whether the new name sticks, updated as positions change. Link or cite this section: lakeamericanews.com/#tracker
Adopted: 6 Refused: 7 Uses both: 1 No change yet: 5
| Who | Position | Detail | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White House | Adopted | The order requires all federal references to use Lake America, with printed documents updating over the following days. | Aug 27 | CBS News |
| US Geological Survey | Adopted | USGS designated the lake as Lake America in official federal electronic records at 4:30 pm on signing day, per its director's letter. | Aug 27 | WND |
| Interior Dept / GNIS | Adopted | The federal names database was updated the same day the order was signed, well inside the 30 day deadline the order allowed. Google cites that GNIS update as the trigger for its own change. | Aug 27 | ITV News |
| National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency | Adopted | NGA implemented the change in the U.S. Geographic Names Server, the federal repository for foreign geographic names, two days after the order was signed. | Aug 29 | NGA |
| Google Maps (US) | Adopted | Flipped. Google says US users see Lake America, Canadian users keep Lake Ontario, and everyone else sees both names. Rollout began after the GNIS update. | Aug 29 | |
| Apple Maps | Adopted | Flipped, days after Google. US users now see Lake America; users outside the US still saw Lake Ontario. Interior Secretary Burgum said Trump contacted the company directly. | Sep 2 | AP via ABC News |
| MapQuest | Refused | Still refusing after both Google and Apple flipped. Its viral reply to the order pushed the MapQuest app to the top free spot in Apple's App Store. | Sep 2 | Al Jazeera |
| New York State | Refused | Gov. Hochul: New York won't be calling it that. The state is under no obligation to follow the federal change. | Aug 27 | Fox News |
| Canada (federal) | Refused | PM Carney: it will be called Lake Ontario now and always, citing the 400 year old Wendat origin of the name. | Aug 27 | Global News |
| Ontario (province) | Refused | Premier Ford: it's Lake Ontario to Canadians and the rest of the world, now and forever. | Aug 28 | Time |
| Seneca Nation | Refused | President J. Conrad Seneca called on Trump to rescind the order, saying it violates the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua, which describes Seneca territory as beginning on Lake Ontario. | Aug 30 | Spectrum News |
| Rep. Debbie Dingell | Refused | The Hands Off Our Great Lakes Act, H.R. 10186, was formally introduced Aug 31 with Reps. Kennedy and Morelle. It would bar renaming any Great Lake, nullify the order, and block federal funds for carrying it out. Still awaiting action in the House. | Aug 31 | Rep. Kennedy |
| Pierre Poilievre | Refused | Canada's opposition leader: Lake Ontario is and will always be Lake Ontario, and no executive order will change that. | Aug 28 | Time |
| OpenStreetMap | Uses both | Editors settled on keeping the display name Lake Ontario and recording Lake America only as official_name:en-US, the same convention used for the Gulf since 2025. | Aug 29 | OSM Forum |
| Associated Press | No change yet | AP's wire story on the Apple change still calls the lake Lake Ontario in AP's own voice and frames Lake America as the ordered name. No Stylebook guidance found. | Sep 2 | AP via ABC News |
| Fox News | No change yet | Coverage keeps Lake Ontario in its own voice and puts Lake America in quotes when describing the order. | Aug 27 | Fox News |
| Wikipedia | No change yet | The article is still titled Lake Ontario, with the executive order noted only in the Name section. | Sep 3 | Wikipedia |
| NOAA | No change yet | The open lake forecast issued the morning of September 3 is still headed Open Lake Forecast for Lake Ontario. | Sep 3 | NWS Buffalo |
| IJC (binational board) | No change yet | No statement, and its board is still named the International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Board on its site. | Sep 3 | IJC |
Method notes: every row links the source it rests on. Reuters and the New York Times block automated verification, so their positions are not listed rather than guessed. Corrections and new positions: use the signup below and reply to any issue, and this table gets fixed.
The order
What the executive order actually says
On August 27, 2026, President Trump signed “Honoring the American History of the Great Lakes and Renaming Lake Ontario as Lake America” in the Oval Office, where a display map of the Great Lakes behind him already showed “Lake America” printed in large red letters over Lake Ontario.
The order directs the Secretary of the Interior, coordinating with the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, to act within 30 days: rename Lake Ontario as Lake America in the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) and remove Lake Ontario references “consistent with applicable law.”
Its reach is narrower than the headline suggests. The order covers federal government usage only: agency maps, contracts, documents, and communications. It does not purport to bind state governments, private companies, or Canada. New York State, in other words, is free to keep Lake Ontario on its own highway signs, tourism materials, and maps.
The order describes the water body as bounded on the south and east by the State of New York, and on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario.
“Canada has been ripping us off for a long time on trade, very sadly.”
President Trump, tying the renaming to the ongoing trade dispute between the U.S. and Canada
The order itself makes a territorial argument too, stating that because “the deepest parts of the Lake’s waters lying within United States territory, the United States claims most of the Lake’s volume,” and that the lake “has long been an integral asset to American exploration, settlement, commerce, and defense.”
Same-day response
Reactions
Both governments most directly touched by the name responded the day the order was signed.
New York State
Rejected
Governor Kathy Hochul rejected the new name on the day it was signed, writing on X that “New York won’t be calling it that.” Her reaction:
“I’m speechless. It is so patently absurd.”
She also criticized renaming a lake that was named after New York's indigenous peoples, and said the administration should focus instead on mending relations with Canada so farmers, consumers, and families stop suffering from the tariff dispute. As a matter of law, U.S. states are not bound by the federal order and can keep using Lake Ontario on state maps, highway signs, and tourism materials.
Gov. Kathy Hochul
Aug 27, 2026 · Fox News, The Hill
Canada
Rejected
Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada will keep using Lake Ontario. His reaction:
“Naming reality means calling it Lake Ontario, then, now and always.”
Carney pointed to etymology, noting the name comes from the Wendat word Ontari’io, meaning “the lake is beautiful, the lake is big,” and that it is more than 400 years old, predating both Canadian Confederation and the U.S. Declaration of Independence. Canada is not required to adopt the U.S. order and has given no indication it will.
PM Mark Carney
Aug 27, 2026 · Detroit News, Lethbridge News Now
Not the first time
The Gulf of America playbook
This is the same mechanism used on the Gulf of Mexico in 2025. That precedent is the best available signal for what happens next.
2025-01-20
EO 14172 signed Done
“Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness” renames the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America and restores the name Denali.
2025-02-07
Secretary's Order 3423 Done
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum directs the Board on Geographic Names to update GNIS immediately for the Gulf of America.
2025-03-17
Published in the Federal Register Done
The Gulf of America renaming is formally documented (document 2025-04018).
2025-04-08
AP press-access ruling Ongoing
After the White House restricted Associated Press access over its continued use of “Gulf of Mexico,” a federal judge granted AP a preliminary injunction on First Amendment grounds. The administration appealed and the ruling was paused pending appeal, with arguments still ongoing as of November 2025 reporting.
2026-08-27
Lake Ontario order signed Done
The same order type is applied to Lake Ontario. New York and Canada reject the new name the same day.
~2026-09-26
GNIS update due Pending
The Interior Department's 30 day deadline to complete the federal database update for Lake Ontario.
Watching
Will Google Maps and Apple Maps change?
Both have now flipped. Here is what each provider has actually said or done.
Google Maps
Changed
Google confirmed on August 29, 2026 that it applied the same location-based system it used for the Gulf of America in February 2025: viewers in the U.S. see “Lake America,” viewers in Canada keep “Lake Ontario,” and everyone else sees both names. Google pointed to the federal GNIS update as its trigger. Lake Ontario is the harder case that mechanism was never built for: the U.S.-Canada border runs through the middle of the lake itself, not along a coastline, so a viewer in Rochester and a viewer in Toronto are now looking at the very same patch of water under two different labels.
Apple Maps
Changed
Apple relabeled the lake “Lake America” for U.S. users of Maps on September 2, 2026, days after Google and without a public statement of its own. Users outside the U.S. still saw “Lake Ontario.” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Trump had contacted the company directly about the change. Apple followed Google's lead on the Gulf of America label in 2025 and did the same here.
Where it stands: both have now flipped. The federal GNIS database was updated the same day the order was signed, Google Maps began showing “Lake America” to US users on August 29, 2026, and Apple Maps followed on September 2, 2026. MapQuest is still refusing. See the tracker above for sources.
Quick answers
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to start calling it Lake America?
No. The order only covers federal government usage: agency maps, contracts, documents, and communications. It does not require states, companies, or the public to change anything.
Did New York rename the lake?
No. New York is not bound by the federal order, and Governor Hochul has said the state will keep using Lake Ontario on state maps, signs, and tourism materials.
Did Canada rename the lake?
No. The order has no authority over Canada, and Prime Minister Carney has said Canada will keep using Lake Ontario.
Has the federal government done this before?
Yes. The same mechanism renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America in 2025 under Executive Order 14172, which also restored the name Denali.
When does the federal renaming take effect?
The order gives the Secretary of the Interior 30 days from August 27, 2026, or by around September 26, 2026, to coordinate the change with the Board on Geographic Names and update the federal Geographic Names Information System.
Will Google Maps or Apple Maps show Lake America?
Yes, both already do for US users. Google Maps began showing Lake America to viewers in the US on August 29, 2026, and Apple Maps followed on September 2, 2026. Viewers in Canada still see Lake Ontario, and viewers elsewhere see both names. MapQuest is still showing Lake Ontario.
Ping me when Google Maps flips
That is the whole promise. The moment Google Maps (or Apple Maps) starts showing Lake America to US users, you get one email saying so. No newsletter, no weekly anything.
- Google Maps and Apple Maps label changes, the big one
- AP Stylebook guidance, or a court blocking the order
- Any shift in New York's or Canada's position
You're on the list. We'll email you when something changes.
Every claim above is sourced
Notes and sources
Verified August 28, 2026. This page states the order's scope and timeline as written, and quotes officials as reported by the outlets below.
- The executive order itselfwhitehouse.gov, “Honoring the American History of the Great Lakes…”
- Order coverageCBS News
- Trade rationale quoteNBC News
- Trade contextCNBC
- Oval Office signing detailNewsweek
- Gov. Hochul's responseFox News
- Hochul, states not boundThe Hill
- PM Carney's responseLethbridge News Now
- Carney, additional coverageDetroit News
- Canada not required to adoptNewsweek
- EO 14172, Gulf of America / DenaliWikipedia
- Secretary's Order 3423Department of the Interior
- Gulf of America enters GNISUSGS
- Federal Register noticeFederal Register
- AP press-access rulingNPR
- AP case, appeal statusFox News
- Mexico's Google lawsuitCourthouse News
- Mexico lawsuit, additional coverageFox News
- Google's map-label mechanismTech Times
- Why Lake Ontario is a harder map caseTravelers Today