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<\/p>\nCan Trump actually change Lake Ontario to ‘Lake America’? Here\u2019s what to know<\/p>\n
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Amid a growing trade war with one of the United States\u2019 closest allies, President Donald Trump on Thursday moved to rename Lake Ontario to \u201cLake America,\u201d<\/a> needling Canada further after trade talks collapsed.<\/a><\/p>\n Trump\u2019s executive order marks the president\u2019s latest attempt to use rebranding as an assertion of power \u2014 after signing an order to rename the Gulf of Mexico on his first day back in office.<\/p>\n Trump has wide latitude over how the U.S. government refers to geographic landmarks, but he can\u2019t force other countries to follow suit. Here\u2019s what to know:<\/p>\n Why is Trump doing this?<\/p>\n Trump had been floating the name change since trade talks between the U.S. and Canada fell apart last week.<\/p>\n The president enacted 50% tariffs on roughly $20 billion worth of Canadian goods over the weekend, and Canada quickly followed suit by announcing increased tariffs on various U.S. products. Trump has threatened to further escalate if Canada doesn\u2019t back down, though talks seem to be on hold for now.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018Lake of America\u2019 was something I\u2019ve been thinking about for a long time,\u201d Trump said Thursday in the Oval Office, flanked by a map titled \u201cMaking the Great Lakes Even Greater.\u201d \u201cWe have a gulf and we have a lake. Now, all we need is an ocean. So, maybe we\u2019ll have to change the name of the Atlantic and\/or the Pacific. Maybe we\u2019ll change them both.\u201d<\/p>\n Can he actually change the name?<\/p>\n Trump can legally change the way the U.S. government refers to geographic landmarks. Thursday\u2019s executive order tasks Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and the Board on Geographic Names to rename Lake Ontario \u201cLake America\u201d within 30 days, including updating the Geographic Names Information System and removing \u201call references to Lake Ontario, consistent with applicable law.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump also directed the Board on Geographic Names to provide guidance on the name change within the federal government, so agency maps, contracts, documents and communications state \u201cLake America\u201d instead.<\/p>\n \u201cWe haven\u2019t seen \u2018Gulf of America\u2019 tested because the Congress has remained in GOP hands,\u201d said Tim Naftali, a senior research scholar at New York University and CNN\u2019s presidential historian. \u201cAny reference to that Great Lake will change, but other than that it has no effect. Certainly not on Canada and the rest of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n While a Republican-controlled Congress may support the name change, Democrats are eyeing key House and Senate seats that could give them congressional majority during the final two years of Trump\u2019s second term.<\/p>\n The House Democrats official X account<\/a> wrote Thursday, \u201cIt\u2019s too expensive to live and Donald Trump is renaming lakes.\u201d<\/p>\n What impact will the change have outside of the US?<\/p>\n Lake Ontario is jointly controlled by Canada and the United States, per the Boundary Waters Treaty<\/a>, enacted in the early 20th century to prevent and settle disputes over the use of the shared waters.<\/p>\n Because of this, Trump\u2019s executive order will apply only to official documents and maps of the federal government, hinging on a U.S. statute<\/a> that mandates uniformity in geographic nomenclature and orthography.<\/p>\n Former federal prosecutor Alyse Adamson told CNN the name change will have \u201czero impact\u201d on anybody who is not within the jurisdiction of the United States.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to stop thinking of it as a name change of the body of water, and simply a change in how the United States refers to it,\u201d said CNN legal analyst Elliot Williams. \u201cThe U.S. can\u2019t compel the rest of the world to refer \u2026 to a body of water by America\u2019s chosen name.\u201d<\/p>\n When will it start to take effect in the US?<\/p>\n Trump said in the Oval Office on Thursday the order would be effective immediately.<\/p>\n