Apple has updated the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America on the online version of Apple Maps, in response to a directive from U.S. President Donald Trump. This adjustment by Apple on Tuesday mirrors a similar action by Alphabet over the weekend, where the name change was implemented on Google Maps for U.S. users. The alteration to “Lake America” on Apple Maps is in accordance with the modification made to the U.S. Geographic Names Information System. U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum revealed that Trump had communicated directly with Apple regarding the renaming.
For users in Canada, the lake will still be displayed as Lake Ontario, while global users will see both names on Apple Maps. This approach aligns with Apple’s response after Trump renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Google’s update caused some confusion in Canada, with certain entities temporarily displaying the Lake America name on their websites.
The recent name changes highlight how U.S. tech companies are entangled in geopolitical disputes due to pressure from the Trump administration to comply with executive orders that have been contested by allies and international organizations. Trump’s executive order concerning Lake Ontario, one of the Great Lakes of North America, only affects U.S. federal usage of the lake and does not dictate the naming for Canada, international bodies, or other organizations.
A majority of Americans oppose Trump’s recent actions, including the imposition of higher taxes on Canadian imports and the renaming of Lake Ontario to Lake America, as indicated by a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll. Following Trump’s order, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and New York Governor Kathy Hochul affirmed that they would retain the lake’s original name, which has been in use for over 400 years. New York shares a border with the lake on the U.S. side, with approximately 52% of the lake’s surface area situated in Canada and the remainder in New York.
Since early 2025, Trump has teased Canada about potentially becoming the 51st U.S. state, a notion that Canadian leaders have dismissed as absurd. In a similar move, Trump renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America in January 2025, prompting adjustments on both Google and Apple maps for U.S. users.