Trump Presses Apple to Rename Lake Ontario as 'Lake America'
AI-generated image · Bay Street Wire
The U.S. President's request to Apple follows a Google Maps update and an executive order amid a trade war with Canada.
U.S. President Donald Trump has requested that Apple change the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America” on its maps app, as first reported by CityNews Toronto. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told Fox’s “Mornings with Maria” on Monday that Trump contacted Apple directly and expressed confidence that the change would appear on the platform soon. Apple has not yet commented.
The request follows a Friday executive order from Trump directing the Interior Department to update the name within the U.S. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). The move comes as a provocation during an escalating trade war with Canada, which has seen tariffs increase on both sides of the border.
Google Maps has already implemented the change for users within the U.S., citing Trump's order and its policy of using GNIS designations. In a Saturday statement, Google clarified that while users in Canada will still see “Lake Ontario,” those located outside of the U.S. and Canada will be shown both names.
The renaming has faced immediate backlash. Canadian officials panned the move, and the leader of the Seneca Nation in upstate New York stated the action shows “blatant disrespect” toward Indigenous people and violates a treaty over 225 years old.
This is not the first instance of the president attempting to rename international waters; CityNews Toronto reports that Trump ordered the Gulf of Mexico to be renamed the Gulf of America last year, a change subsequently adopted by both Google and Apple for U.S. users.