Google Maps has started showing “Lake America” instead of Lake Ontario for users in the United States, following President Donald Trump’s order to rename the major North American lake.
Google Maps has begun displaying “Lake America” instead of Lake Ontario for users in the United States, implementing President Donald Trump’s latest geographical renaming directive amid already strained relations between Washington and Ottawa.
Google said the change follows its existing practice of adopting naming conventions recognised by the US Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
Different names shown based on location
The updated name will not appear uniformly across Google Maps.
Google said users in the US will see “Lake America”, while those in Canada will continue to see “Lake Ontario”. Users outside the US and Canada will see both names displayed.
The move comes after Trump announced the renaming of the lake on Thursday, triggering criticism, scepticism and a wave of jokes and memes on both sides of the border.
Trump doubles down on ‘Lake America’
The renaming is part of Trump’s broader push to alter the names of major geographical features through executive action.
Google had previously made a similar change after Trump ordered the Gulf of Mexico to be referred to as the “Gulf of America” in the US. Google Maps subsequently adopted the new name for users in the United States while retaining different naming conventions elsewhere.
Trump has also openly promoted the Lake America renaming on social media. In an AI-generated video shared by the president, he is shown approaching a sign marked “Lake Ontario”, knocking it down and replacing it with a sign reading “Lake America”.
Canada rejects Trump’s renaming move
The latest dispute comes as trade and diplomatic tensions between Washington and Ottawa remain elevated.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has rejected the suggestion that the lake’s identity can be changed through a US presidential order. Responding to Trump’s announcement, Carney highlighted the historical origins of the name Ontario, which predates the modern borders of both Canada and the United States.
Carney said Canadians would continue to call it Lake Ontario, describing the name as part of the country’s historical and geographic identity.
Another flashpoint in US-Canada tensions
The naming dispute adds another layer to already difficult relations between the neighbouring countries, which have also been locked in disagreements over trade and economic policy.
Carney previously walked away from difficult trade discussions with Washington on August 21, describing the proposed arrangement as a “bad deal” and warning of its potential impact on Canada’s economy and sovereignty.
With Google now displaying different names depending on a user’s location, the Lake Ontario dispute has moved beyond political rhetoric and into one of the world’s most widely used digital mapping platforms.
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