ImmigrationAug 27, 2026·2 min read

Why “Lake America” isn’t funny

Vox – Immigration

6d ago

Summary

Donald Trump displays a map labeling Lake Ontario as "Lake America" in the Oval Office of the White House on August 27, 2026. | Andrew Harnik/Getty Images This story appeared in The Logoff , a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. Subscribe here . Welcome to The Logoff: Donald Trump says he’s renaming Lake Ontario. Let’s talk about it. Can he really do that? Probably, though it doesn’t mean anyone will listen. Strictly speaking, Trump’s executive order, signed Thursday in the Oval Office, directs the Interior Department to update the lake’s name to “Lake America” in the US’s Geographic Names Information System. It remains to be seen whether products like Apple and Google maps will follow suit, but New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, whose state contains the US portion of the lake, says she won’t . Thursday’s executive order further ratchets up those tensions, and it specifically plays into the (very credible) school of thought that Trump isn’t really in this to redress US-Canada trade imbalances; as with many things Trump, it’s about dominance and the desire to claim a “win” at any cost.

From the source

Donald Trump displays a map labeling Lake Ontario as "Lake America" in the Oval Office of the White House on August 27, 2026. | Andrew Harnik/Getty Images This story appeared in The Logoff , a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. Subscribe here . Welcome to The Logoff: Donald Trump says he’s renaming Lake Ontario. Let’s talk about it. Can he really do that? Probably, though it doesn’t mean anyone will listen. Strictly speaking, Trump’s executive order, signed Thursday in the Oval Office, directs the Interior Department to update the lake’s name to “Lake America” in the US’s Geographic Names Information System. It remains to be seen whether products like Apple and Google maps will follow suit, but New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, whose state contains the US portion of the lake, says she won’t . Why is he doing that? The immediate answer is that Trump launched a trade war with Canada over the weekend,

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