Trump Renames Lake Ontario to 'Lake America' Amidst Trade Dispute with Canada

US President Donald Trump's executive order to rename Lake Ontario to 'Lake America' has sparked controversy, with Google already rolling out the change for US users. The company follows the US Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) for its maps, which means it must reflect the new name in Google Maps. However, this change is only for US users, while Canadians will continue to see 'Lake Ontario', and those outside of North America will see both names.

According to a statement from Google, the company updates its maps to reflect name changes in official government sources, which includes GNIS. This means that people using Maps in the US will see 'Lake America', while those in Canada will still see 'Lake Ontario'. The rest of the world will see both names.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney responded to the renaming on X (formerly Twitter), stating that 'The name Lake Ontario comes from the Wendat word Ontari’io, which means “the lake is beautiful, the lake is big”.' He added that the name has been around for over 400 years and predates both Canada's Confederation and the US Declaration of Independence.

Trump has also reportedly reached out to Apple directly about changing Lake Ontario's name to 'Lake America' in Apple Maps. US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum confirmed this, saying 'The president reached out to Apple directly, so I’m sure that we may be seeing that change coming up soon to Lake America.'