Trump Floats Renaming New Mexico to 'New America
Trump signed an executive order to rename Lake Ontario to 'Lake America' after trade negotiations with Canada collapsed. The order has no legal force in Canada, where officials have rejected it.
- 14% of roughly 1,000 Americans surveyed supported the renaming, per an Ipsos/Reuters poll.
- Lake Ontario was named by that name in the 1794 Canandaigua Treaty signed by George Washington.
- Google Maps and Apple Maps updated the name for U.S. users; MapQuest declined.
- Trump also renamed the Gulf of Mexico to 'Gulf of America' and is considering renaming major oceans.
Why it matters: A U.S. president has legal authority to direct the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to update official domestic maps and databases. Critics argue that authority exists to maintain uniformity, not to make political statements.
- The order follows Trump's threats to Canadian sovereignty and repeated talk of Canada becoming the '51st state.'
- The Associated Press was removed from the White House press pool after it refused to adopt 'Gulf of America' in its reporting.
How 39 sources split on this story
Where they split: The core dispute is whether Trump's renaming is an abuse of executive power over shared public heritage or a defensible act equivalent to the renaming of landmarks, bases, and geographic features carried out by previous administrations.
Center coverage, 11 sources: The center focuses on how Americans living in Canada — and a large share of Americans overall — view the move as an embarrassing or counterproductive provocation in an already tense bilateral relationship.
Left coverage, 10 sources: The left frames the renaming as an authoritarian assertion of personal dominance over shared public heritage, comparing it to physical alterations of monuments like the White House and Reflecting Pool.
Right coverage, 18 sources: The right frames the backlash as selective outrage, arguing that the left routinely renames landmarks, military bases, and geographic features for ideological reasons and cannot credibly object to Trump doing the same.
What’s next: Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Prime Minister Mark Carney say the lake will remain 'Lake Ontario' regardless of U.S. policy.
- No congressional action has been reported to codify or reverse the name change.
- Will other major map platforms follow Google and Apple, or resist the change as MapQuest did?
- Could Congress legislate limits on presidential authority over the U.S. Board on Geographic Names?
- How will the renaming affect ongoing U.S.-Canada trade negotiations?
