Apple has begun adopting “Lake America” on its Maps service, leaving digital map users with three different answers to President Donald Trump’s order to rename Lake Ontario amid an escalating trade dispute with Canada.
Google Maps changed the lake’s name for users in the United States two days after Mr Trump signed the executive order on August 27. MapQuest has refused to follow it, while Apple’s app has started displaying the new name in its listings, despite continuing to show “Lake Ontario” over the water itself in some views.
The decisions have taken on added significance after Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Mr Trump had contacted Apple directly to press for the change.
“I know that the president reached out to Apple directly,” Mr Burgum told Fox News. He said officials at the US Board of Geographic Names enter the new designation into government software, which then feeds through to mapping providers.
The White House order instructs the Interior Department to update the US Geographic Names Information System. It does not compel the Canadian government, or private technology companies operating outside the US, to use the new name.
Google said its approach was to reflect official government sources, with users in America seeing “Lake America”, users in Canada continuing to see “Lake Ontario” and users elsewhere seeing both names.
Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Its service has already changed the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America” for US users, following a separate order signed by Mr Trump after his inauguration in January 2025.
MapQuest gains users by keeping Lake Ontario
MapQuest, once one of the leading online mapping services, has made its refusal to comply the centrepiece of a revival. The company posted four words on social media on the day of the order: “We’re not changing it.”
The stance appears to have attracted a substantial audience. MapQuest said hundreds of thousands of people downloaded its app over the weekend, while usage rose to about 50 times its usual level. The service also reached the top of Apple’s US App Store rankings for free apps, ahead of Google Maps and Apple Maps.
Doug Berger, MapQuest’s general manager, said the company had taken the same approach as it did during the Gulf of Mexico dispute by retaining familiar names while allowing users to join the debate. MapQuest has also introduced a tool enabling people to create their own name for the lake.
The disagreement has highlighted the difficulty faced by mapping companies when countries use different names for the same geographical feature. David R Rain, a geography professor at George Washington University, said there was no single, uncontested authority for companies to follow.
Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada rejected the change, saying the lake’s name was about 400 years old. “Naming reality means calling it Lake Ontario — then, now and always,” he wrote on social media.
The dispute comes as relations between Washington and Ottawa deteriorate over trade. Canadian officials have made clear that the body of water bordering Ontario and New York will continue to be known in Canada as Lake Ontario.
