USGS Workers Frustrated by President Donald Trump's Proposals to Rename Lake Ontario and Strait of Hormuz

President Donald Trump's suggestion that he might rename the Strait of Hormuz as the Trump Strait has frustrated several employees of the US Geological Survey, the agency responsible for overseeing federal map names. Staff members reported a gloomy atmosphere within the agency ever since President Donald Trump ordered the federal government to refer to Lake Ontario as Lake America amid an ongoing trade dispute with Canada.

"I'm not happy," stated one USGS staff member who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to fears of retribution. "We've had other controversies about names before, but never something like this." Typically, name changes are agreed upon through a vote by the US Board on Geographic Names rather than via executive order. The staffer acknowledged some precedent for such orders but pointed out that the Lake Ontario change coincides with President Donald Trump's popularity hovering near all-time lows.

"This is all so annoying because we have a lot of work to do and we're dealing with this," the USGS employee said, noting that the agency must now update signs, maps, and other references to Lake Ontario. "It's costing taxpayer dollars and human time to do this work. It is all so unnecessary."

An additional complication is that both Apple and Google rely on USGS information to label their map software on smartphones globally. Both companies updated Lake Ontario to Lake America for US users, leading to anger directed at President Donald Trump spilling over onto the two US technology giants.

Recently, while announcing the upcoming name change for Lake Ontario, President Donald Trump shared an email from agency director Ned Mamula confirming that the switch had been implemented in USGS systems. "As of 4.30pm today, the US Geological Survey has officially designated the former Lake Ontario to be renamed as Lake America in all official USGS electronic documents… the change will beginning occurring in printed documents over the next several days," Ned Mamula wrote.

Ned Mamula is a Trump appointee confirmed by the US Senate in 2025 following dissent. Senator Martin Heinrich, a Democrat, voted against the nomination. "I am troubled by Mr Mamula’s track record of spreading disinformation and conspiracy theories, and I do not believe he is the correct choice to lead the USGS, an agency that prides itself on delivering unbiased, impartial, and objective scientific information," Senator Martin Heinrich stated last year. Ned Mamula did not respond to requests for comment, and a USGS public affairs official stated the agency would not comment, instead pointing to an August 27 social media post by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum providing justification for the Lake Ontario renaming.

Another USGS employee noted that while former president Barack Obama used an executive order in 2015 to rename Alaska's Mount McKinley to Mount Denali before US politics became deeply polarized, the Trump administration reversed that decision last year. "Nothing is looked at rationally anymore," the USGS staffer remarked, suggesting the primary motivation behind changing Lake Ontario's name was to annoy Canada.

Regarding President Donald Trump's comments about renaming the Strait of Hormuz during the US conflict with Iran, USGS workers clarified that any such changes would only apply within the US. "There's the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency and they do the international map standards for US federal agencies," one worker explained. "Even if that happened, much like Canada and others still call it Lake Ontario, it obviously wouldn't change for other countries." President Donald Trump later appeared to downplay his remarks about the Strait of Hormuz, though some USGS employees remain uncertain what to expect next given his unpredictable decision-making style.