The Department of State apologized for “deadnaming” a lake after President Donald Trump’s executive order last week renamed Lake Ontario to Lake America. Because deadnaming usually refers to the act of referring to a transgender, non-binary, or gender-expansive individual by their birth name or any former names they no longer use, the federal department’s use of the term seems to sarcastically mock trans people.
“It was brought to our attention that Lake America was erroneously labeled as Lake ‘Ontario’ on our website,” the Department of State wrote in an August 28 post on X. “We have corrected this mistake and apologize for deadnaming the lake.”
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Because of the State Department’s actions and the Trump administration’s relentless policies seeking to eradicate trans identity from all aspects of civic life, many have interpreted the State Department’s apology for deadnaming the lake as a sarcastic joke mocking trans people.
In January 2025, Secretary of State Marco Rubio froze all applications for passports with “X” gender markers, an option available to people who don’t identify as male or female that was started in the Biden administration. He also ordered staff to suspend applications that involve a change in gender marker.
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Last April, the State Department began a new policy to ban trans employees from using the restroom that matches their gender identity. Last July, the State Department told U.S. immigration officials around the world to deny visas and permanently ban any transgender foreigners who “misrepresent” their birth sex on visa applications.
Trump issued an order last Thursday that directed the Interior Department to update Lake Ontario’s name to “Lake America” in the US’s Geographic Names Information System. Following suit, Google renamed the lake in its maps application. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told Fox News on Sunday that Trump “reached out to Apple directly” to get the company to rename the lake on its maps application as well.
Trump’s renaming of the lake is part of a trade war that he launched against Canada in mid-August. Trump imposed a 50% tariff on $20 billion worth of Canadian exports, including auto parts, forestry products, furniture, textiles, whiskey, and hockey equipment, economic professor Kent Jones wrote. Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney responded with a list of $20 billion in US imports that Canada will impose tariffs of up to 50% on — many of the tariffs will affect US industries in northern swing states bordering Canada.
The trade war expands upon Trump’s repeated insults to the US’ northern neighbor: He has repeatedly referred to Canada as the 51st state (a reference that suggests possible invasion and annexation), and gay Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has voiced support for the Canadian province of Alberta to declare its independence from Canada.
Vermont Gov. Phil Scott (R) on Thursday called President Trump’s executive order renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America “petty and disappointing.”
“This is petty and disappointing. We should be at the negotiating table, finding a path forward that strengthens both the U.S. and Canadian economies,” wrote Scott in a Thursday social media post about the order. “Further escalating tensions does nothing to help American or Canadian families and businesses.”
Scott wasn’t the only Republican to disapprove of Trump’s renaming of Lake Ontario.
“As long as I’ve been alive it’s always been Lake Ontario, and I see no reason why we should change it now,” said Rob Corradino, the Republican mayor of Oswego, a town where 62% of 2024 voters chose Trump, AL.com reported.
“From what I see, the Canadians are very strong-willed people, and they don’t take kindly to threats,” he added. “I think it’s best to get along with your neighbors. I would hope we could all get along for the betterment of both sides.”
Even far-right commentator Matt Walsh recently said, “This will be an unpopular opinion on the Right, but I think this is kind of dumb, even as a troll. Lake Ontario was given that name on maps by European explorers long before the Canadian province of Ontario was named.”
“There are several cities in America called Ontario — at least one of them predating the Canadian province by like 100 years — because the word originates with native tribes in North America. It’s not a Canadian invention. Canadians never uniquely owned the lake or the name,” he continued. “So in effect all you’re doing here is actually giving them credit for a thing that wasn’t theirs to begin with.”
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