{"id":2116517,"date":"2026-08-28T12:45:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T09:45:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2116517"},"modified":"2026-08-28T12:45:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T09:45:19","slug":"maga-trolls-obsessed-with-renaming-lake-ontario-on-wikipedia-after-trumps-declaration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2116517","title":{"rendered":"MAGA Trolls Obsessed With Renaming Lake Ontario on Wikipedia After Trump\u2019s Declaration"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/app\/uploads\/2026\/08\/trump-lake-ontario-lake-america-1200×675.jpg”]<\/p>\n

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The Wikipedia entry for Lake Ontario became a battleground for the dumbest culture war of the month on Thursday as supporters of President Donald Trump repeatedly tried to rename the entry as Lake America.<\/p>\n

Trump signed an executive order in the Oval Office on Thursday declaring Lake Ontario would henceforth be known as Lake America. It\u2019s an infantile decision that few people outside the U.S. are likely to recognize, but it\u2019s galvanized MAGA true believers who love nothing more than when the president supposedly owns the libs.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

The Talk section of the Wikipedia entry was filled with back-and-forth from Trump supporters who clearly thought it was a huge victory for Trump to declare that Lake Ontario had been renamed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been changed officially. You can call him \u2018unstable\u2019 all you like, you leftie. But it is what it is \u2013 the name is changed,\u201d one person wrote.<\/p>\n

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the wikipedia page edit history for lake ontario is destroying me pic.twitter.com\/HHieNHLIoC<\/p>\n

\u2014 Ada \u2600\ufe0f SUNNY 18 \u2600\ufe0f (@okitanoniisan) August 27, 2026<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The majority of people clearly thought it was warranted to mention Trump\u2019s actions but not to otherwise radically alter the article. At the time of this writing, a section called \u201cName\u201d explained both the history of the name Ontario as well as Trump\u2019s executive order but didn\u2019t discuss the legality of such a change.<\/p>\n

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Google and Apple both changed their maps after Trump renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America when he first returned to office in Jan. 2025, but didn\u2019t respond to questions emailed Thursday about what they planned to do with Trump\u2019s latest attempt to rename Lake Ontario.<\/p>\n

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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Wikipedia page for the Gulf of Mexico still reads as the Gulf of Mexico and only refers to the \u201cGulf of America\u201d in a paragraph describing Trump\u2019s executive order on that.<\/p>\n

Some far-right commentators like Libs of TikTok cheered on Trump\u2019s name change, describing it as \u201cfreaking epic,\u201d and suggesting that he should rename the Atlantic Ocean as \u201cEast American Ocean\u201d and the Pacific Ocean as \u201cWest American Ocean.\u201d<\/p>\n

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This MUST happen<\/p>\n

Would be so freaking epic<\/p>\n

The map never looked this good \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 https:\/\/t.co\/4nXtADH6h5 pic.twitter.com\/XZ8VrY69qh<\/p>\n

\u2014 Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) August 27, 2026<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Not every Trump supporter was celebrating. Matt Walsh, the far-right anti-trans activist, pointed out the history of the name Ontario, writing on X, \u201cCanadians never uniquely owned the lake or the name. So in effect all you\u2019re doing here is actually giving them credit for a thing that wasn\u2019t theirs to begin with.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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There were also plenty of jokes, including a video from Wisconsin governor Tony Evers, who showed himself writing \u201cLake Wisconsin\u201d on a napkin in order to rename Lake Michigan.<\/p>\n

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And I just renamed Lake Michigan Lake Wisconsin. See, I can sign napkins that say things, too. https:\/\/t.co\/ZhhsuJlt3U pic.twitter.com\/yrnvPuuC4t<\/p>\n

\u2014 Governor Tony Evers (@GovEvers) August 27, 2026<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

JB Pritzker, the governor of Illinois, tweeted his own joke renaming Trump Tower in Chicago to \u201cNatalie,\u201d a reference to his creepy right-hand woman Natalie Harp.<\/p>\n

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EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY: Trump Tower is renamed to NATALIE TOWER! https:\/\/t.co\/5wTAHjJzrX pic.twitter.com\/jeWMSC8f4E<\/p>\n

\u2014 JB Pritzker (@JBPritzker) August 27, 2026<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney, did his own explainer in a tweet Thursday that was understandably far more serious.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe name Lake Ontario comes from the Wendat word Ontari\u2019io, which, appropriately, means .the lake is beautiful, the lake is big\u2019. The name is more than 400 years old, predating both the Confederation of Canada and the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America,\u201d wrote Carney.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cWe know that America is changing. Their trading relationships, their foreign policies, their national monuments, their hydronyms. Canadians also know that naming reality means calling it Lake Ontario\u2014then, now and always,\u201d he continued.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/article>\n

\n

The Wikipedia entry for Lake Ontario became a battleground for the dumbest culture war of the month on Thursday as supporters of President Donald Trump repeatedly tried to rename the entry as Lake America.<\/p>\n

Trump signed an executive order in the Oval Office on Thursday declaring Lake Ontario would henceforth be known as Lake America. It\u2019s an infantile decision that few people outside the U.S. are likely to recognize, but it\u2019s galvanized MAGA true believers who love nothing more than when the president supposedly owns the libs.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

The Talk section of the Wikipedia entry was filled with back-and-forth from Trump supporters who clearly thought it was a huge victory for Trump to declare that Lake Ontario had been renamed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been changed officially. You can call him \u2018unstable\u2019 all you like, you leftie. But it is what it is \u2013 the name is changed,\u201d one person wrote.<\/p>\n

\n

the wikipedia page edit history for lake ontario is destroying me pic.twitter.com\/HHieNHLIoC<\/p>\n

\u2014 Ada \u2600\ufe0f SUNNY 18 \u2600\ufe0f (@okitanoniisan) August 27, 2026<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The majority of people clearly thought it was warranted to mention Trump\u2019s actions but not to otherwise radically alter the article. At the time of this writing, a section called \u201cName\u201d explained both the history of the name Ontario as well as Trump\u2019s executive order but didn\u2019t discuss the legality of such a change.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Google and Apple both changed their maps after Trump renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America when he first returned to office in Jan. 2025, but didn\u2019t respond to questions emailed Thursday about what they planned to do with Trump\u2019s latest attempt to rename Lake Ontario.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Wikipedia page for the Gulf of Mexico still reads as the Gulf of Mexico and only refers to the \u201cGulf of America\u201d in a paragraph describing Trump\u2019s executive order on that.<\/p>\n

Some far-right commentators like Libs of TikTok cheered on Trump\u2019s name change, describing it as \u201cfreaking epic,\u201d and suggesting that he should rename the Atlantic Ocean as \u201cEast American Ocean\u201d and the Pacific Ocean as \u201cWest American Ocean.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

This MUST happen<\/p>\n

Would be so freaking epic<\/p>\n

The map never looked this good \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 https:\/\/t.co\/4nXtADH6h5 pic.twitter.com\/XZ8VrY69qh<\/p>\n

\u2014 Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) August 27, 2026<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Not every Trump supporter was celebrating. Matt Walsh, the far-right anti-trans activist, pointed out the history of the name Ontario, writing on X, \u201cCanadians never uniquely owned the lake or the name. So in effect all you\u2019re doing here is actually giving them credit for a thing that wasn\u2019t theirs to begin with.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

There were also plenty of jokes, including a video from Wisconsin governor Tony Evers, who showed himself writing \u201cLake Wisconsin\u201d on a napkin in order to rename Lake Michigan.<\/p>\n

\n

And I just renamed Lake Michigan Lake Wisconsin. See, I can sign napkins that say things, too. https:\/\/t.co\/ZhhsuJlt3U pic.twitter.com\/yrnvPuuC4t<\/p>\n

\u2014 Governor Tony Evers (@GovEvers) August 27, 2026<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

JB Pritzker, the governor of Illinois, tweeted his own joke renaming Trump Tower in Chicago to \u201cNatalie,\u201d a reference to his creepy right-hand woman Natalie Harp.<\/p>\n

\n

EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY: Trump Tower is renamed to NATALIE TOWER! https:\/\/t.co\/5wTAHjJzrX pic.twitter.com\/jeWMSC8f4E<\/p>\n

\u2014 JB Pritzker (@JBPritzker) August 27, 2026<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney, did his own explainer in a tweet Thursday that was understandably far more serious.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe name Lake Ontario comes from the Wendat word Ontari\u2019io, which, appropriately, means .the lake is beautiful, the lake is big\u2019. The name is more than 400 years old, predating both the Confederation of Canada and the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America,\u201d wrote Carney.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWe know that America is changing. Their trading relationships, their foreign policies, their national monuments, their hydronyms. Canadians also know that naming reality means calling it Lake Ontario\u2014then, now and always,\u201d he continued.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/wikipedia-lake-ontario-trump-lake-america-2000804094″]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/app\/uploads\/2026\/08\/trump-lake-ontario-lake-america-1200×675.jpg”] The Wikipedia entry for Lake Ontario became a battleground for the dumbest culture war of the month on Thursday as supporters of President Donald Trump repeatedly tried to rename the entry as Lake America. Trump signed an executive order in the Oval Office on Thursday declaring Lake Ontario would henceforth be known […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,53],"class_list":["post-2116517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-gizmodo-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2116517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2116517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2116517\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2116517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2116517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2116517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}