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. U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum mentioned in an interview with Fox Business that Trump directly contacted Apple regarding the renaming request. It is anticipated that this change may soon be reflected on Apple Maps.
The renaming initiative has stirred controversy in Canada amidst ongoing trade tensions between the two countries. Following the breakdown of Canada-U.S. trade negotiations and the imposition of significant tariffs on Canadian goods by the United States, Trump signed an executive order to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America.”
In response to this move, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney expressed opposition to the name change, affirming that the lake, situated between Ontario and New York state as one of the Great Lakes, will be known as Lake Ontario “now and always.”
Google announced that Google Maps users in the U.S. would now see “Lake America” instead of Lake Ontario, citing official government sources for the name change. While users in Canada will continue to see Lake Ontario on Google Maps, some Ontario and Canadian websites briefly displayed Lake America due to third-party protocols linked to Google’s U.S. API.
Despite the executive order’s impact being limited to U.S. federal documents and geographic services, some online mapping services and news agencies have already adopted the name “Gulf of America” for the Gulf of Mexico following a similar order signed by Trump in 2025. Notably, Apple Maps currently refers to the area as “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America).”
As of Monday, Apple had not responded to queries regarding the potential renaming of Lake Ontario on Apple Maps. At present, Apple Maps in Canada continues to identify the body of water as Lake Ontario.