The president signed an executive order directing the Interior Department to update the lake's name in the U.S. geographic naming service. Trump cannot force Canada to follow his preferred naming convention, however.

President Trump signed an executive order on Thursday directing the federal government to rename Lake Ontario amid an escalating trade dispute with Canada .

Trump threatened the renaming earlier this week amid a deepening trade war with Canada.

President Trump directed the US government to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America. This move follows escalating trade disputes between Washington and Ottawa. The executive order…