It's unclear whether Trump can unilaterally rename the lake, whose name predates European colonization of the Americas and has been widely recognized internationally for centuries. But the renaming belies a concerted push by the Trump administration to hold back important U.

The Great Lakes hold about 21 percent of the planet's surface fresh water, yet less than one percent of that volume renews each year. That second number, not the first, sets the limits on everyone who drinks from the basin.

Five vessels are stationary across the Great Lakes on Tuesday, August 18, 2026 at 7:25 a.m. EDT, according to automatic identification system data, as a cold front moves southward across Lake Michigan this afternoon with thunderstorms possible through the evening.

A $5.5 million commitment from the Barch family is expanding student research and Great Lakes science programs at LSSU.

President Trump announced plans to change the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America on Wednesday, Aug. 26

Great Lakes advocates are renewing calls for the Trump administration to lift a stop work order on a barrier designed to stop invasive carp after several hundred juvenile fish were discovered just 80 miles from Lake Michigan.

Severe storms are expected to ramp up across parts of the Midwest and Great Lakes as a cold front sweeps eastward from the Mid-Mississippi Valley.  Daytime heating and wind shear could fuel damaging

The clash between cooler weather and warmer lake waters is known to create significant wind storms on the Great Lakes.