Trump's Strait of Hormuz and Lake Ontario name ideas 'annoy' USGS workers

President Donald Trump's idea to rename the Strait of Hormuz as the Trump Strait has upset some US Geological Survey (USGS) staff members. This comes after Trump ordered federal agencies to refer to Lake Ontario as Lake America during a trade dispute with Canada. A USGS employee expressed their dissatisfaction, stating they are unhappy and finding the situation annoying. The employee highlighted that name changes are typically approved by a vote at the US Board on Geographic Names, not through executive orders.

There is some precedent for such orders, but the Lake Ontario name change is occurring amid Trump's low popularity. One employee noted that the agency now has to change signs, maps, and other references to Lake Ontario, which is costing taxpayer money and time. Apple and Google, which use USGS information to label their map software on billions of smartphones, also changed Lake Ontario to Lake America for US users, causing anger towards Trump.

The employee pointed out that the change in Lake Ontario's name could spark international controversy, as other countries still refer to it by its original name.

An executive order used to rename Alaska's Mount McKinley to Mount Denali in 2015, before political polarization reached its current level. The Trump administration reversed Obama's name change last year. Some USGS staff believe Trump's motivation for changing Lake Ontario's name is to annoy Canada. When discussing Trump's comment about renaming the Strait of Hormuz, USGS employees stated that any changes would only affect US maps, as other countries would likely continue using the original name.