In response to an executive order by U.S. President Donald Trump renaming Lake Ontario, Apple has updated its Apple Maps to display the body of water as “Lake America” for U.S. users. This adjustment mirrors a similar move made by Alphabet, the parent company of Google, which also changed the name on its mapping service for U.S. users over the weekend.
The decision to rename Lake Ontario on Apple Maps came after U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum revealed that Trump had personally contacted Apple regarding the name change. While American users will now see “Lake America” on their maps, Canadian users will still see the original name, Lake Ontario, reflecting the geographical and political divide over the issue.
The renaming of Lake Ontario has caused some confusion in Canada, with certain entities briefly adopting the new name on their websites following Google’s update. However, New York Governor Kathy Hochul and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney have both affirmed that they will not be altering the historic name of the lake, which has stood for over four centuries. New York, which shares a border with Lake Ontario, has a stake in the naming debate as well.
Despite the controversy, a majority of Americans disagree with Trump’s recent decisions, including the tax hike on Canadian imports and the renaming of Lake Ontario. The dispute highlights the intersection of politics and technology, as tech companies like Apple and Google find themselves entangled in geopolitical matters due to executive orders from the Trump administration.
Trump’s move to rename Lake Ontario follows a similar renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America in early 2025. Both Google and Apple swiftly updated their mapping services to reflect these changes, catering to U.S. users as directed by the executive orders.