Podcaster Joe Rogan took a swipe at President Donald Trump’s decision to rename Lake Ontario to “Lake America,” suggesting the move is intended to "distract" Americans from the ongoing war with Iran. During Tuesday's episode of The Joe Rogan Experience with comedian Brian Simpson, Rogan, a vocal critic of the Trump administration's involvement in Iran, argued that the attention surrounding the lake’s new name could pull focus from what he described as a conflict the United States cannot win. Trump signed an executive order on August 27 directing the federal government to use “Lake America” in place of Lake Ontario in U.S. federal geographic naming systems.
The name change comes amid a sharp deterioration in U.S.-Canada relations and escalating trade tensions between the two countries. It applies to U.S. federal usage and does not alter Canada’s continued use of Lake Ontario or establish a new international name for the lake. Newsweek reached out to the White House on Tuesday for comment on Rogan's new remarks.
Rogan said on Tuesday's episode of his podcast, when asked what the purpose of renaming the lake could be, "To distract you from the fact that we're in a war that we can't win in Iran." Rogan added, "It doesn't make any sense. Like who cares, it's Lake Ontario, it's a good name, we've had that name forever." Rogan has become increasingly outspoken about Trump’s handling of the Iran conflict. Earlier this year, he questioned the administration’s decision to enter the war and suggested that Israel may have played a role in the United States becoming involved.
He has also previously argued that Trump’s supporters could feel betrayed by the president’s decision to go to war, placing his latest comments within a broader pattern of criticism over the conflict. The Lake America controversy has also become a political and cultural story in its own right. Google has adopted “Lake America” for U.S. users while continuing to display “Lake Ontario” in Canada, underscoring the limited geographic reach of the federal name change.
Rogan's remarks come at a consequential moment for the Trump administration, as the U.S. continues its military campaign against Iran and has carried out new strikes on Iranian military targets. At the same time, public support for the war has declined. A new University of Massachusetts Amherst poll released Monday found that 68 percent of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the Iran war, while 54 percent disapprove of U.S. military actions in Iran.
When asked how well Trump has handled the war in Iran, 25 percent say very or somewhat well while 68 percent say not too well or not well at all. This marks a new net low for the president across three surveys from the pollster asking the same question. The poll surveyed 1,000 respondents from August 21–26, 2026, with a margin of error of 3.5 percent.
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