A Pennsylvania state lawmaker wants President Donald Trump to rename Lake Erie “Lake Pennsylvania,” the latest in a string of geographic renaming proposals tied to the president.
State Rep. David Maloney, a Republican, is drafting a resolution asking Trump, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and members of Congress to pursue the change. He argues it would better reflect the lake’s importance to the state.
“This is Pennsylvania’s only Great Lake. Its modern economy and identity are increasingly tied to the boaters, anglers, families and tourists who come to enjoy it,” Maloney said in a statement. “Ohio has plenty of shoreline. New York already has two Great Lakes. Canada has four others.”
“Pennsylvania has one. Let’s call it Lake Pennsylvania!” he added.
Lake Erie is the smallest of the Great Lakes by volume and the shallowest, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. About 12 million people live in its watershed — 10.5 million in the United States and 1.9 million in Canada.
Part of a broader pattern
Maloney’s proposal follows an executive order Trump signed last month renaming Lake Ontario to “Lake America,” a change Canada has rejected outright. The order applies only to the U.S. federal government, meaning Canada, other countries and individual states are not obligated to adopt it. Still, both Apple Maps and Google Maps updated the name to “Lake America” for U.S. users.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney responded firmly to the Lake Ontario order: “We 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 — then, now and always.”
Trump has floated similar changes elsewhere. He has suggested renaming New Mexico to “New America,” a proposal that prompted several of the state’s Democratic lawmakers to push Apple and Google to commit publicly to keeping the state’s current name on their map applications. He has also raised the idea of renaming the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
On his first day back in office in January 2025, Trump signed an order renaming the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.” As with the Lake Ontario order, that change binds only the U.S. federal government and does not apply to Mexico or other countries. Apple Maps and Google Maps again adjusted their displays for U.S. users based on device location.
It remains to be seen whether Maloney’s resolution will gain traction in the Pennsylvania legislature or draw any response from the White House.
