Apple has quietly renamed Lake Ontario to “Lake America” on its web-based Maps service for users in the United States, following a direct request from President Trump. The change aligns with an executive order he signed last week amid escalating trade tensions with Canada.
The tech company confirmed that American users will now see “Lake America” when viewing the lake, a shift that mirrors the recent update to the U.S. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). Canadian users will still see “Lake Ontario,” while international users will see both names, according to Reuters. This dual-name approach is similar to how Google has handled the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to “Gulf of America.”
The move comes as Trump intensifies his trade war with Canada. After Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney pulled negotiators from trade talks last month, Trump imposed 50% tariffs on Canadian goods. Carney retaliated with matching tariffs, set to take effect September 8.
Trump has long floated the idea of renaming the lake, saying he had contemplated it for “a long time.” He quipped that with the lake and the Gulf of Mexico now renamed, “all we need is an ocean.”
Canadian officials were quick to dismiss the change. Ontario Premier Doug Ford likened it to “something out of ‘Saturday Night Live,’” while Carney’s office declined to comment directly.
The Seneca Nation, one of the six nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, has urged Trump to reconsider. In a statement last Friday, Seneca Nation President J. Conrad Seneca argued the renaming violates the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua, which recognized Seneca boundaries beginning on Lake Ontario. The lake is known as “sga:nyodai:yoh” in Seneca, meaning “beautiful lake.”
“The President cannot assert ownership over our culture or erase it through irresponsible political action,” Seneca said.
The controversy has boosted MapQuest, whose mobile app saw a surge in downloads after it announced it would keep the name “Lake Ontario.” The app has climbed to the top of Apple’s U.S. App Store navigation charts, ahead of Google Maps and Waze. This follows a similar backlash when MapQuest refused to adopt “Gulf of America,” which led Mexico to sue Google in May 2025.
Apple has not commented further on the change. The renaming is the latest in a series of unilateral actions by Trump that have strained relations with allies and Indigenous communities, and it raises questions about the extent of executive power over geographic names.
