Google Maps renames Lake Ontario to ‘Lake America’ following Trump’s executive order
Google Maps has changed the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America” for users in the United States, following President Donald Trump’s executive order rebranding the lake. The move has prompted backlash from critics, reports BritPanorama.
In a Saturday blog post, Google explained that U.S. users would see “Lake America” displayed over the Great Lake, which straddles the U.S.-Canada border. “The U.S. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) has formally changed the name for ‘Lake Ontario’ to ‘Lake America’ in the United States,” Google stated. “Since we update Google Maps to reflect name changes in official government sources, which is GNIS for the U.S., people using Maps in the U.S. will see ‘Lake America,’ those in Canada will continue to see ‘Lake Ontario,’ and those outside of the U.S. and Canada will see both names.”
“These updates follow our long-standing policy for bodies of water with names that vary from country to country, and are starting to roll out now,” the company added. The update came two days after Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to use the new name for the lake in official documents and records. While the president can direct how the federal government refers to geographic features, he cannot compel foreign nations, private entities, or even U.S. states to follow his lead.
The White House and some of Trump’s supporters applauded Google’s move. However, critics accused the Silicon Valley company of yielding to pressure from the Trump administration. “Google Maps has now capitulated to Donald Trump and changed the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America,” MeidasTouch, a progressive media company, stated on X.
Ian Bremmer, an American political scientist, noted that Apple Maps still identifies the body of water as Lake Ontario, commenting that Apple appears to be thinking longer term. Another user remarked, “So basically they’ll allow any POTUS exec order to rename stuff.” Some Canadian commenters expressed significant outrage, with Eric Reguly, a Canadian columnist, stating, “Time to stop using @Google Cowards.”
When approached for comment, a Google spokesperson directed inquiries to the company’s blog post. Trump’s executive order, which mirrors a similar initiative last year renaming the Gulf of Mexico, triggered a response from Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on social media. “We know that America is changing. Their trading relationships, their foreign policies, their national monuments, their hydronyms,” Carney wrote in a Thursday post. “Canadians also know that naming reality means calling it Lake Ontario – then, now and always.”
This rebranding effort arrives amidst a bitter tariff war between the U.S. and Canada, longstanding trading partners and allies. Last Saturday, the U.S. imposed 50 percent tariffs on about $20 billion in Canadian exports after last-minute talks between Washington and Ottawa collapsed. Canadian officials, who viewed the decision as an act of war, retaliated with levies of up to 50 percent on various U.S. goods.
Relations between the two nations have deteriorated since Trump took office, in part due to the Republican president’s numerous tariffs and his previous claims that Canada should become the “51st state.”
