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Google is updating its map displays to reflect President Trump’s executive order renaming Lake Ontario to “Lake America”. The name change comes amid a tense trade dispute between the U.S. and Canada, with the U.S. imposing 50% tariffs on hundreds of Canadian goods and Canada announcing matching tariffs on U.S. goods. U.S. Google Maps users will see “Lake America” while Canadian users will see “Lake Ontario”, with the rest of the world seeing both names, a policy consistent with Google’s approach to bodies of water that have different names in different countries.
Google Maps Displays Lake Ontario as “Lake America” Following Trump’s Executive Order
Following an executive order signed by President Trump, Google has started changing the display name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America” on its maps. The move comes amidst an intensifying trade dispute between the U.S. and Canada.
Trump issued the order last week after previously indicating that such a change might be on the horizon. Lake Ontario straddles the border of Canada’s most populous province, Ontario, and New York state.
Google’s statement clarified that U.S. users will see “Lake America” while Canadians will still see “Lake Ontario”. Both names will appear for users outside these two countries, with “Lake America” in parentheses.
This policy aligns with Google’s precedent for treating bodies of water with varying names between countries. The tech giant also made reference to the U.S.-Canada trade conflict, which escalated after trade agreement negotiations fell through. Recently, U.S. imposed tariffs on a range of Canadian goods and Canada retaliated by announcing matching tariffs on U.S. goods.
Prior to this, Trump had also renamed the Gulf of Mexico to “Gulf of America”, applied to federal references, whereas other nations continued to use the original name.
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung publicly endorsed the name change, while New York Governor Kathy Hochul expressed disapproval. Trump also criticized Canada’s trade practices on Truth Social, alleging that Canadian leaders have been exploiting the U.S. and that this will stop under his administration.
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