Get you up to speed: Google updates maps to show “Lake America” in U.S. after Trump executive order directing name change
Google announced on Saturday that it is rolling out changes to its maps to reflect President Trump’s executive order renaming Lake Ontario to “Lake America”. The updated names will display differently in the U.S. and Canada, with “Lake America” visible in the U.S. while Canadians will see “Lake Ontario”.
Google’s maps update displaying “Lake America” is being implemented alongside the ongoing trade dispute between the U.S. and Canada, highlighted by the U.S. imposing tariffs on Canadian goods. The official name change follows an executive order from President Trump and updates to the Geographic Names Information System by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung announced the official name change on social media, stating, “It’s official! LAKE AMERICA on Google Maps.” In response, New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared, “New York won’t be calling it that,” highlighting the ongoing tensions related to the trade dispute between the U.S. and Canada.
What remains unclear — It is uncertain how Canadian officials will respond to the name change on maps.
Google alters maps to display Lake America in US following Trump’s order
Washington — Google announced on Saturday that it had begun rolling out changes to how its maps display Lake Ontario’s name, after President Trump signed an executive order changing it to “Lake America” amid a trade fight between the U.S. and Canada.
The president signed an executive order last week to rename the lake, which sits between Canada’s most populous province, Ontario, and New York state. The move came after he had threatened the change earlier in the week as tense trade dynamics between the historically allied countries came to a head.
People in the U.S. will see “Lake America” on their maps, while in Canada, they will see “Lake Ontario,” Google said in a statement on Saturday. Beyond the U.S. and Canada, people will see both names displayed on their map, with “Lake America” appearing in parentheses.
“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 said.
The U.S. and Canada have been locked in a tense trade fight in recent weeks after negotiators failed to reach an agreement to end the standoff. Earlier this month, the U.S. began imposing 50% tariffs on hundreds of Canadian goods, prompting Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to announce that Canada will begin imposing matching tariffs of up to 50% on billions of dollars of U.S. goods next month.
With his executive order, which came after the president sparred with Ontario’s Premier Doug Ford, Mr. Trump directed Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to update the Geographic Names Information System, which works with the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to standardize geographic names for federal use. Google cited the formal name change under the GNIS, noting that its maps are updated “to reflect name changes in official government sources.”
The change comes after Mr. Trump also changed the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America” earlier in his term, which was likewise applied to federal references, while other nations aren’t required to recognize the name.
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung celebrated the name change on Sunday in a post on X, saying, “It’s official! LAKE AMERICA on Google Maps.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said after the president signed the executive order last week, “New York won’t be calling it that.”
Mr. Trump took aim at Canada on the trade front in a Truth Social post on Sunday, claiming its leaders have been “ripping us off for decades, and it’s going to stop.”
“This should have happened long ago with other Presidents, just as stopping Iran should have happened long ago,” the president said. “They want to be treated like a State, but they aren’t one. I deal with the Leadership of many Countries, but I find Canada to be the worst. They are entitled no longer!”