US google maps displays Lake Ontario as ‘Lake America’

Google Maps has begun displaying Lake Ontario as “Lake America” to users in the United States, following President Donald Trump’s announcement to rename the body of water.

The change was visible on Google Maps for US users on Sunday, while users in Canada will continue to see the name Lake Ontario on their devices and computers.

Google, the US-based technology company, said the original name would remain visible to Canadian users.

Lake Ontario is the long-standing name of the lake and has been in use since the 17th century, with Indigenous roots.

The naming dispute has added a new dimension to the growing tensions between the United States and Canada under Trump’s “America First” policy.

The two neighbouring countries, which have traditionally been close allies, are currently engaged in a trade dispute, with both Washington and Ottawa imposing tariffs on goods from each other.

A Canadian official criticised the development, describing the situation as “absolutely backwards” amid the worsening cross-border tensions.

Apple’s Maps app that comes installed on all iPhones makes no mention of “Lake America” on its maps as of Sunday morning.

Google said it made its change in line with the US Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), the official federal database for geographic names.

“Since we update Google Maps to reflect name changes in official government sources, which is GNIS for the US, people using Maps in the US will see ‘Lake America,’ those in Canada will continue to see ‘Lake Ontario,’ and those outside of the US and Canada will see both names,” Google said on its blog.

The change mirrors Trump’s unilateral altering of the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America in January 2025 – a move Mexico has also rejected.

Ontario is the smallest by surface area of the five Great Lakes, which straddle the Canada-US border between Ontario province and the US state of New York.

The province’s premier, Doug Ford, offered fresh criticism Sunday of the trade dispute and Trump’s lake name change.

“It’s absolutely backwards. It was like something out of (US comedy TV show) ‘Saturday Night Live’ when he signed a document saying – changed to ‘Lake America.’ No one’s going to call it Lake of America,” Ford told ABC talk show “This Week.”

“It’s just so disappointing.”

Ford also warned that while a trade war would harm both countries, “it’d be definitely devastating on the US” given that Canada has been by far the largest purchaser of US vehicles. Should those buys dry up, US auto factories would be hit hard.

“A tariff on Canada is nothing more than a tax on American people,” he said. “It’s probably the worst move you could ever do.”

Canada and the US have a deeply interconnected auto manufacturing sector, and a sizeable portion of parts for US vehicles are made in Canada.

Trump himself waded in Sunday to say Americans “want to make our own cars.”

“Canada has been ripping us off for years — NO LONGER!” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.

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