Trump touts National Weather Service switch from “Lake Ontario” to “Lake America”

Trump shares a report that the National Weather Service is renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America across its maps and forecasts, carrying out an executive order he signed after trade talks with Canada collapsed.

First Published: September 16, 2026, 9:31 PM ET

WASHINGTON D.C. — Donald J. Trump promoted a report that the National Weather Service has begun renaming Lake Ontario to “Lake America” across its maps and weather forecasts.

The weather agency announced Sept. 14 that it would carry out an executive order Trump signed Aug. 27, which directed the Interior Department and the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to make the change official within 30 days after trade negotiations with Canada fell apart according to justthenews. The transition is expected to affect open water forecasts, marine products and forecasts for the Niagara River and the surrounding region in New York according to justthenews.

“NWS is in the process of implementing Executive Order 14422, “Honoring the American History of the Great Lakes and Renaming Lake Ontario as Lake America,”” the service said according to justthenews. “Work is underway to update naming conventions as quickly as possible on online maps, weather products, websites and other materials across the NWS.”

Here is the full post on truthsocial: “National Weather Service begins changing “Lake Ontario” to “Lake America” on maps, weather forecasts: https://justthenews.com/government/national-weather-service-begins-changing-lake-ontario-lake-america-maps-weather” on September 16, 2026 at 9:24 PM ET.

This is Trump’s 7th message released today, and the last post was 2 hours ago, and it is not part of a thread. On average, Trump produces 18 posts per day since his inauguration on January 20, 2025. The move fits a broader pattern in Trump’s recent messaging, with 69 of his 579 posts over the last 30 days classified as Domestic Policy posts.

President Donald J. Trump posed at Washington D.C.

The order applies only to federal maps, documents and references, and does not require Canada, New York state, local governments or private companies to adopt the new name according to yahoo. Canadian officials have said they will continue to call the body of water Lake Ontario according to yahoo. Canada answered the renaming by erecting a billboard on the Canadian side reading “Lake Ontario — Now and Always” according to tallahassee.

The National Weather Service, which falls under the Department of Commerce, already carried out a comparable renaming. Gulf of America replaced Gulf of Mexico on all of its maps in 2025 after Trump signed an executive order on his first day back in office Jan. 20 according to tallahassee. Within a month, the National Hurricane Center and other federal weather departments used maps denoting Gulf of America according to tallahassee.

The practical effect on forecasts may be limited. “They would still have their portion of the lake and will call it what they want to call it,” said Brian LaMarre, an Inspire Weather meteorologist and former Tampa area NWS meteorologist according to tallahassee. “It’s more of an IT computer programming issue.”

Google® Maps changed the name for users in the United States while keeping Lake Ontario for users in Canada, and Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) changed the name in its map products according to yahoo. MapQuest has said it will not make the change according to yahoo.