Renaming the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Ontario

Case

On his first day in office, January 20, 2025, Trump signed Executive Order 14172 ('Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness'), directing the Interior Secretary to rename the Gulf of Mexico the 'Gulf of America' with

Gulf of Mexico
On his first day in office, January 20, 2025, Trump signed Executive Order 14172 ('Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness'), directing the Interior Secretary to rename the Gulf of Mexico the 'Gulf of America' within U.S. jurisdiction. A February 7, 2025 follow-up order from Interior Secretary Doug Burgum directed the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to update the official Geographic Names Information System accordingly.
The Gulf has carried its name for roughly 400 years, referenced as such in 16th-century English geographic texts. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum responded that the order only applies to the U.S. continental shelf portion, joking Trump could 'call it whatever he wants' on that portion, while for Mexico and 'the entire world' it remains the Gulf of Mexico; she separately pursued legal action against Google over its name change in Google Maps.
Google and Apple complied with the U.S. government's preferred name for U.S. users; the United Nations and most of the rest of the world continued using 'Gulf of Mexico.'

Lake Ontario
On August 27, 2026, amid a breakdown in U.S.-Canada trade talks and new retaliatory tariffs (see the Canada/Mexico entry in this document), Trump signed an executive order directing Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and the Board on Geographic Names to rename Lake Ontario 'Lake America' within 30 days. Lake Ontario sits on the border between New York and Canada, and is jointly shared - unlike the Gulf of Mexico, which is not a shared U.S.-adjacent lake in the same binational sense.
Trump connected the move explicitly to the trade dispute and suggested further renamings could follow, telling reporters: 'We have a gulf and we have a lake... now all we need is an ocean,' floating renaming the Atlantic and/or Pacific.
A Canadian maritime attorney told NBC News that neither the U.S. nor Canada holds naming rights over Lake Ontario, meaning the U.S. order has no binding effect on Canadian or international usage; Canada has stated it will continue calling it Lake Ontario. Google Maps announced it would reflect the U.S. government's preferred name for U.S. users, consistent with its approach to the Gulf of Mexico change.
A university geography educator (Alderman, quoted by Al Jazeera) criticized both renamings as 'unilateral naming by decree' with no public discussion, arguing the changes risk 'a myopic sense of place that diminishes Indigenous histories' and U.S. connections to neighboring countries.

Note
Trump has clear authority over federal naming, and he tied the Lake Ontario change to trade leverage himself.

Sources
[1] NPR (https://www.npr.org/2026/08/27/g-s1-140583/trump-lake-ontario-america)
[2] Al Jazeera (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/28/can-trump-really-rename-lake-ontario-lake-america)
[3] NBC News (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/trump-orders-lake-ontario-renamed-lake-america-canada-trade-war-rcna594750)
[4] CNN (https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/27/politics/trump-rename-lake-america)
[5] Wisconsin Geospatial News (https://www.sco.wisc.edu/2025/02/11/farewell-to-the-gulf-of-mexico)
[6] Yahoo/AP (https://www.yahoo.com/news/mexicos-president-amused-trumps-order-172541604.html)

Connections

Shared mechanism — America.gov launch and the 'Super Intelligence' AI rename (Sept. 2026)
Both rename things by presidential order, the 'Super Intelligence' mandate for agencies and the Gulf of America order.

Related — DHS: seal redesign and 'at war' messaging
Both are symbolic/branding actions (renaming, seal redesign) examined for their messaging function.