President Donald Trump has reportedly requested Apple to rename Lake Ontario to “Lake America” on its maps, stirring controversy in Canada amidst ongoing trade tensions. U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum mentioned that Trump directly contacted Apple regarding the name change, hinting at a potential upcoming alteration to “Lake America.”
This move comes after Trump signed an executive order to rename Lake Ontario to “Lake America” following the breakdown of Canada-U.S. trade negotiations and the implementation of significant U.S. tariffs on various Canadian products. In response, Canada announced retaliatory tariffs set to take effect soon.
Despite Trump’s directive, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney opposed the name change, affirming that the lake, situated between Ontario and New York state as one of the Great Lakes, will remain known as Lake Ontario “now and always.”
Google announced the change on Google Maps, stating that U.S. users would see “Lake America” instead of Lake Ontario to reflect updates from official government sources. While Google Maps in Canada will continue to display Lake Ontario, some Canadian websites inadvertently showed Lake America due to third-party protocols linked to Google’s U.S. API.
Following public outcry, affected maps, including those on Ontario-based websites like Hydro One and LCBO, reverted to displaying Lake Ontario instead of Lake America. Apple has not responded to inquiries about Trump’s request and any potential plans to update the lake’s name on Apple Maps.
This renaming initiative follows a previous executive order in 2025 renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, impacting U.S. federal documents and services. Despite this, some online mapping services and U.S. news outlets have adopted the “Gulf of America” designation, while Apple Maps currently identifies the area as “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America).”