Google reveals how 'Lake America' name change will appear on maps | Newsweek

Google has announced that it has formally changed the name for Lake Ontario to "Lake America" for Google Maps users in the United States, in line with President Donald Trump's recent executive order which followed an escalating trade war with Canada. The company explains that it normally updates Google Maps "to reflect name changes in official government sources," which means people using the app in the United States will see the lake as "Lake America," the way Trump intended. But users in Canada will continue seeing it as Lake Ontario, as it has been known for some 400 years. Google Maps users outside the U.S. and Canada will see both names. The name Lake Ontario appeared first in a search conducted by Newsweek outside the United States, whereas the name "Lake America" appeared between brackets.

"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," Google wrote in a statement on August 29 announcing the changes.

Newsweek contacted the White House, Canada's Office of the Prime Minister, and the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs for comment by email early on Sunday morning, outside of standard working hours.

The company's decision is in opposition to that of another longtime mapping service, MapQuest, which recently declared it will not be changing the name of Lake Ontario to "Lake America."

"We're not changing it," the company wrote on X Thursday in a viral post, sharing a screenshot that continued to identify one of the five Great Lakes as Lake Ontario. MapQuest later launched a name generator that lets users rename the lake themselves.

On Apple Maps, Lake Ontario has not changed its name. Newsweek contacted Apple for comment by email on Sunday morning.

## Why Has Trump Ordered the Name Change?

Announcing the name change, Trump said he was ordering to rename the lake "America" in recognition of its role in boosting the U.S. economy "and its critical importance to our Nation's economy and its people."

But the timing of the executive order signals a deepening rift between the United States and neighbor Canada, as negotiations between the two countries over a new round of tariffs commanded by the Trump administration in July fell apart last week.

After talks to stop the new tariffs from coming into effect failed, the United States imposed a fresh round of 50 percent tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian imports to the country; Canada will retaliate with a "dollar for dollar" counter-tariffs starting next month.

It is within the further chilling of the United States-Canada trade and diplomatic relationship that Trump ordered the rebranding of Lake Ontario, effective immediately. The president has the power to change how the nation recognizes landmarks such as the Great Lake, but other countries do not have to follow in renaming Lake Ontario. And so far, they have not.

On Saturday, he shared an AI-generated video on his social media platform, Truth Social, created by another user which said "Lake America - Protected by Donald Ducks." The video shows the lake as patrolled by geese wearing Trump-style blond wigs and armed with rifles.

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney has been defiant to the name change announced by Trump, saying that "things must be called by their name, and this lake is called Lake Ontario, today and forever."

Ontario Premier Doug Ford showed the same spirit when ordering the installation of a large sign on Canada's Lake Ontario's shoreline, saying: "Lake Ontario. Now and Always" in both French and English. Canada's promotion and protection of the French language was a sticking point in trade negotiations with the Trump administration.

## What Can We Learn from the 'Gulf of America' Precedent

This is not the first time that companies providing mapping services scramble to figure out how to respond to Trump renaming iconic geographical landmarks.

When he returned to the White House in January 2025, the president signed an executive order changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America," a rebranding which Mexico strongly rejected, similarly to Canada now.

In that case, Google also decided that Google Maps users in the United States would see the name "Gulf of America" for the body of water shared by the country and Mexico, while those in Mexico would still see it as "Gulf of Mexico."

Google Maps users outside of these two countries see the name "Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)", similar to the way they now see "Lake Ontario (Lake America)."

Shortly after Google's rebranding, Apple Maps also changed its labeling of the gulf the same way. Users outside the United States and Mexico see it as "Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)." Microsoft also made the name change on its Bing maps.