President Donald Trump has reportedly asked Apple to consider renaming Lake Ontario to “Lake America” on its maps, a move stirring controversy among Canadians amidst ongoing trade tensions. U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum revealed that Trump had personally contacted Apple regarding this renaming request, hinting at a potential upcoming change to “Lake America” on the maps.
The push for the name change originated from an executive order signed by Trump last week, following the breakdown of Canada-U.S. trade negotiations and the imposition of significant tariffs by the United States on various Canadian products. In response, Canada announced retaliatory tariffs set to take effect soon.
Despite the directive, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney publicly rejected the proposed name alteration, affirming that the lake, a significant part of the Great Lakes region between Ontario and New York, will remain known as Lake Ontario “now and always.” Meanwhile, tech giant Google indicated that Google Maps in the U.S. will reflect the name change to “Lake America” based on official government sources.
While U.S. users on Google Maps will see the updated name, Canadian users will continue to view Lake Ontario. Nevertheless, some websites in Canada inadvertently displayed the lake as Lake America due to data sourced from Google’s U.S. API, causing temporary confusion. Notably, on Monday, websites like Hydro One and LCBO in Ontario reverted to displaying Lake Ontario correctly.
Regarding Apple Maps, there has been no immediate response to inquiries regarding the potential renaming of Lake Ontario. At present, the platform still identifies the body of water as Lake Ontario when accessed in Canada. This renaming request echoes a previous executive order by Trump in 2025 renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, affecting federal documents and some map services. Apple Maps currently references the area as “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America).”