Apple Lake America: Apple Maps Relabels Lake Ontario for US Users

Apple Lake America now appears on Apple Maps for U.S. users, after the company relabeled Lake Ontario following competitor Google, days after President Donald Trump ordered a new name for the body of water amid his escalating trade war with Canada, according to the Associated Press. As of Wednesday morning, Apple Maps displayed "Lake America" for U.S. users viewing the lake that sits between New York state and Canada's Ontario province, while users outside the U.S. still saw the name Lake Ontario.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told Fox earlier this week that Trump had reached out to the company "directly" about the change, the AP reported.

Trump declared the new name last week as part of a broader set of provocations during his trade war with Canada, which is now raising tariffs on both sides of the border. His executive order, signed Friday, directed the Interior Department to update the lake's name in the U.S. geographic naming service, according to the White House.

Google Maps Lake America labeling rolled out over the weekend, with Google citing Trump's order and its established practice of using names assigned by the U.S. Geographic Names Information System. The company said U.S. users would see "Lake America," Canadian users would continue seeing "Lake Ontario," and users elsewhere would see both names, describing the policy as consistent with its approach to bodies of water with names that vary by country.

Trump cannot force Canada to adopt the new name, and Canadian officials have rejected the move. Ontario Premier Doug Ford wrote on social media Friday that the lake would remain Lake Ontario "to Canadians and the rest of the world." Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney also rejected the change last week, citing the lake's Indigenous roots and noting the name predates both Canadian Confederation and the U.S. Declaration of Independence. The name Lake Ontario comes from the Huron Indigenous word "oniatarí:io," meaning "lake of shining waters."

This is not the first time Trump has sought to rename a body of water spanning international borders. Last year, Trump ordered the Gulf of Mexico renamed the Gulf of America, and Apple and Google, both based in California, later updated their U.S. maps accordingly, the AP reported.

Not all map providers have followed suit. MapQuest has said it will not change Lake Ontario's label and has given users the option to name the lake "whatever you want" through a separate online tool, with both the Lake Ontario and Gulf of Mexico names still appearing as defaults on its platform. MapQuest, owned by California company System1, reported a surge in downloads, topping the free apps chart on Apple's App Store in both the U.S. and Canada on Wednesday.

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