Apple Maps has modified the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America on its online platform in response to an executive order by U.S. President Donald Trump. Following Alphabet’s decision to rename the lake on Google Maps for U.S. users, Apple made a similar adjustment on Tuesday. The change will be visible to U.S. users after an update to the U.S. Geographic Names Information System, as confirmed by Apple. U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum mentioned that Trump directly contacted Apple regarding the renaming.
While Canadian users will still see Lake Ontario, users in other countries will see both names, mirroring Apple’s approach when the Gulf of Mexico was renamed the Gulf of America. Google’s update caused brief confusion in Canada over the weekend as some organizations briefly displayed maps with the Lake America name on their websites.
The renaming of Lake Ontario highlights the involvement of U.S. tech companies in geopolitical disputes influenced by the Trump administration’s executive orders. Trump’s order specifically impacts federal use of the lake within the U.S., and does not dictate the naming conventions used by Canada, international bodies, or other entities.
A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll revealed that a majority of Americans disagreed with Trump’s decisions to raise taxes on Canadian imports and rename Lake Ontario. Following the executive order, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and New York Governor Kathy Hochul stated that they would not alter the lake’s name, which has been in use for over 400 years. New York shares a border with the lake on the U.S. side, with approximately 52% of the lake’s surface area located in Canada.
Since early 2025, Trump has made repeated comments suggesting Canada become the 51st U.S. state, a notion dismissed by Canadian leaders as absurd. Trump previously renamed the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America in January 2025, prompting both Google and Apple to update their map services for U.S. users.