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Apple Maps renames Lake Ontario ‘Lake America’ for US users after Trump order
🇬🇧 United Kingdom /Economy & Trade

Apple Maps renames Lake Ontario ‘Lake America’ for US users after Trump order

From BBC News · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Apple Maps now displays “Lake America” for US users, while users in Canada continue to see “Lake Ontario.”
  • The change follows the collapse of US-Canada trade talks and Washington’s decision to impose 50% tariffs on $20 billion in Canadian goods.
  • Canada has announced matching counter-tariffs, and Ontario installed a sign insisting the lake is “Lake Ontario. Now and Always.”

Apple Maps has begun calling Lake Ontario “Lake America” for users in the United States, turning a presidential naming order into another point of friction between Washington and Ottawa.

Users in Canada will continue to see the name Lake Ontario. Apple has not commented publicly, but the change follows President Donald Trump’s executive order directing the United States to adopt the new name. Google made a similar change for US-based users in recent days, while MapQuest said it would not rename the lake.

dollar for dollar

— Canadian governmentCanada’s response to Washington’s tariffs.

The order came after trade negotiations between the United States and Canada collapsed late last month. Washington then imposed 50% tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods. Canada responded by saying it would apply “dollar for dollar” counter-tariffs. Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government had left the talks because of what his office called unacceptable demands, and Carney told the Trump administration to “start being serious” and stop trying to act tough before discussions could resume.

start being serious

— Mark CarneyThe Canadian prime minister’s message to the Trump administration before trade talks could resume.

The executive order gave the US Department of the Interior 30 days to update the name in the Geographic Names Information Service, the official US database of place names. US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Trump had specifically urged Apple to update its Maps platform.

Trump has also posted AI-generated videos showing him kicking over a Lake Ontario sign and replacing it with one reading “Welcome to Lake America.” Ontario Premier Doug Ford answered with a new sign at the lake: “Lake Ontario. Now and Always.” Ford said it was meant to remind Trump and anyone else that the lake’s name was Lake Ontario, “now and forever.”

Lake Ontario. Now and Always.

— Ontario government signThe wording on a new sign installed at the lake in response to the renaming order.

Lake Ontario is the smallest of the five Great Lakes and lies between Ontario and New York state. Four of the lakes have names derived from Indigenous words, while Lake Superior takes its name from an anglicized French term. Google said its Maps service reflects official government name changes by user location, a policy it also applied when it changed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America for US users in 2025.

we're not changing it

— MapQuestThe mapping service’s statement that it would keep the name Lake Ontario.
About this summary

Originally published by BBC News in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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