The Associated Press will continue to refer to Lake Ontario by its established name despite an executive order from US President Donald Trump renaming it.
The news agency issued guidance to its journalists and style guide followers noting that the decision of the American president applies only to how the US federal government refers to the lake. The directive emphasized that the order does not bind Canada or other countries to adopt the name Lake America.
Associated Press spokesperson Patrick Maks said the agency would refer to Lake Ontario by its original name, while including the name chosen by Trump when that is relevant. He stressed that the organization functions as a global news agency and needs to use geographic names that are recognizable to an international audience.
Lake Ontario is the easternmost of the Great Lakes in North America, forming part of the international border between the United States and Canada. It is bordered by the American state of New York and the Canadian province of Ontario. The Associated Press, founded in 1846, is an independent news cooperative headquartered in New York City whose stylebook serves as the standard for journalists worldwide. While executive orders direct administrative bodies within the federal government, private press organizations retain editorial control over their terminology.
Previous naming disputes
The new disagreement recalls an earlier conflict between the news organization and the White House over the Gulf of Mexico. When the Trump administration adopted the name Gulf of America for that body of water, the Associated Press chose to continue using its traditional name. That position led to a severe confrontation with executive officials and resulted in a legal dispute over the access of agency reporters to presidential events.
The choice to maintain the original name for Lake Ontario arrives amid significant political symbolism. Trump issued the executive order during a period of heightened diplomatic tension between Washington and Ottawa, driven primarily by ongoing trade disputes between the United States and Canada.
