President Donald Trump has reportedly requested Apple to change the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America” on its maps, according to a senior U.S. government official. This move from Washington has stirred controversy in Canada amid ongoing trade tensions.
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum mentioned on Fox Business that Trump had directly contacted Apple regarding the renaming, hinting that the change to “Lake America” might be imminent.
Following Trump’s executive order to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America” last week, Canada responded with retaliatory tariffs set to take effect soon. Prime Minister Mark Carney firmly opposed the name change, asserting that the lake, situated between Ontario and New York state, will remain Lake Ontario “now and always.”
Google confirmed that Google Maps in the U.S. would show “Lake America” instead of Lake Ontario to align with official government sources. Although Canadian users will continue to see Lake Ontario on Google Maps, some Ontario and Canadian websites temporarily displayed Lake America due to third-party data sources linked to Google’s U.S. API.
Despite the initial confusion, affected websites like Hydro One and LCBO in Ontario have reverted to showing Lake Ontario on their maps. Apple, when contacted for comment, did not respond immediately regarding Trump’s request to rename the lake on Apple Maps.
Notably, Trump had previously signed a similar executive order in 2025 renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America for U.S. federal documents and geographic services. This change has led to some online maps and news agencies referring to it as the Gulf of America, while Apple Maps currently indicates the area as “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America).”