US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario as 'Lake America' and is pushing Apple to implement the change as his trade war with Canada continues to escalate. The move follows a similar renaming of the Gulf of Mexico last year.
Trump contacts Apple directly
Trump's Interior Secretary Doug Burgum confirmed to Fox News that the president had "reached out to Apple directly" to demand the name change. Burgum added that he was confident the "Lake America" name change would be visible on Apple Maps soon.
At the weekend, Google updated its maps to reflect Trump's "Lake America" renaming for US consumers. However, the rest of the world still sees "Lake Ontario". The company cited the recent order by Trump and its already-established practice of using names assigned by the US Geographic Names Information System, also known as GNIS, as the reason for the change.
Google's statement on the name change
In a statement issued Saturday, Google said: "People using Maps in the US will see 'Lake America,' those in Canada will continue to see 'Lake Ontario', and those outside of the US and Canada will see both names."
Google said the update reflects its "long-standing policy for bodies of water with names that vary from country to country."
Indigenous leaders respond
The renaming has also insulted the Indigenous people who gave Lake Ontario its name in the first place, according to the leader of the Seneca Nation of Indians; a federally recognised sovereign Native American tribe of Indigenous peoples originating from western New York.
The leader of the Seneca Nation, J. Conrad Seneca, said Trump's move violates a more than 225-year-old treaty and shows a "blatant disrespect" for the Indigenous people who gave Lake Ontario its name. In a statement shared by the Seneca Nation of Indians (SNI), he said: "The President cannot assert ownership over our culture or erase it through irresponsible political action."
The Seneca Nation leader added: "His order should be rescinded, and the name Lake Ontario should be left as it is, reflective of the Seneca people, other Haudenosaunee nations and all Indigenous people surrounding the lake."
MapQuest refuses to conform
MapQuest, an online mapping platform that predated popular apps like Google Maps and Apple Maps, has refused to conform to the name change. It made its position clear in a social media post, shared on August 27: "We're not changing it." On August 30, in another social media post, it said: "We are aware that Lake Ontario is being correctly labeled on our map."
The company also refused to rename the Gulf of Mexico in early 2025 when Trump embarked on a similar push. As well as refusing to change the name, MapQuest launched a map generator allowing users to 'name your own Gulf'. They have again followed suit, with a new map generator now available that allows users to come up with their own names for the lake between the US and Canada. As of time of writing, Apple Maps is continuing to label the lake as 'Lake Ontario'.
