Lake Map Name Change
Trump Contacts Apple About Renaming Lake Ontario On Its Maps
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President Trump has reportedly contacted Apple to rename Lake Ontario to "Lake America" on its maps, National Post reported. The move follows Google Maps already displaying the new name in the United States after the U.S. Geographic Names Information System formally changed the designation. The lake sits on the border between the US and Canada and has been called Lake Ontario for over 400 years.
Google Maps quickly updated its US version to show "Lake America," causing some Canadian organizations including Metrolinx and Hydro One to briefly display the new name on their websites since they pull map data directly from Google. By Monday morning, those labels had reverted to Lake Ontario after the third-party mapping error was fixed.
Google Maps Triggers Confusion With Lake Rename
Google Maps began showing "Lake America" on US versions of its service following the GNIS official designation change. Goderich Signal-Star reported the update spread rapidly across American digital maps. The name switch happened without advance notice to Canadian officials or the public, sparking immediate backlash from groups that manage infrastructure along the lake's shore.
Canadian organizations relying on Google's mapping data saw the label shift appear on their own platforms within hours. Hydro One, Metrolinx, and LCBO all displayed "Lake America" briefly on their websites before catching and correcting the error by morning. The automatic data sync highlighted how dependent many Canadian services are on US-based mapping providers.
Trump's Executive Order Pushes Tech Giants to Comply
Trump issued an executive order requiring the lake's renaming and tasked the Department of Interior with enforcing the change across federal systems and private companies. National Post noted the directive targets major tech platforms including Apple, Google, and Microsoft. The order aims to standardize "Lake America" across all US digital mapping services.
By reaching out directly to Apple, Trump is seeking to ensure the tech giant updates its Maps app globally. Apple Maps currently still displays Lake Ontario as the official name. The company has not publicly responded to Trump's request or indicated whether it plans to adopt the new designation.
Canadian Leaders and Historians Oppose the 400-Year-Old Name Change
Critics argue Lake Ontario's name carries over four centuries of history and predates both Canadian Confederation in 1867 and the modern United States. The Sudbury Star reported that UK politicians and Canadian officials have condemned the renaming as a nationalist overreach. The lake's original name comes from the Iroquoian word meaning "great lake" and has been used since European contact in the 1600s.
Canadian organizations view the unilateral rename as a sovereignty issue since the lake is shared between both nations. Woodstock Sentinel-Review noted that no formal binational agreement exists to change the historic name. The controversy reflects broader tensions over geographic nomenclature and which nation has authority over shared border features.
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