Apple Maps now labels the body of water that straddles New York and Ontario as “Lake America” for users in the United States, following an executive order from President Donald Trump to rename Lake Ontario amid an ongoing trade dispute with Canada. Users outside the United States continue to see the historic name, Lake Ontario.
Apple reportedly weighed whether to comply after receiving a direct request from the president. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told Fox Business that the president had reached out to Apple and that the change would appear soon. Google Maps had already made the switch, citing its policy of using names assigned by the U.S. Geographic Names Information System, and now shows “Lake America” to U.S. users while Canadian users see the original name and users elsewhere see both.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney rejected the renaming, posting that the lake’s name comes from the Indigenous Wendat language and predates both Canadian Confederation and the U.S. Declaration of Independence. He emphasized that the historic name should remain unchanged.
The order arrived after trade talks between Washington and Ottawa collapsed, prompting the United States to impose 50% tariffs on several Canadian imports and threatening additional duties on steel, trucks, cars and auto parts. Trump framed the renaming as a tribute to “the extraordinary contributions of the American people and the rich heritage of our history.”
MapQuest, a veteran online mapping service, publicly refused to adopt the new name, posting “We’re not changing it.” The stance sparked a surge in downloads, propelling the app to the top of Apple’s App Store navigation chart and making it the most in‑demand mapping tool in the United States.
