Apple has officially started updating its Apple Maps application to display Lake Ontario as ‘Lake America’ for users within the United States. The change follows an executive order issued by President Trump, which prompted the company to act quickly on the name modification. According to Bloomberg, the lake will continue to be labeled as ‘Lake Ontario’ in Canada, while other countries outside of the U.S. will see both names displayed. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum confirmed that Trump had personally reached out to Apple about the update, according to Reuters.
The name change is currently rolling out and may not be fully visible across all devices yet, according to Engadget. Desktop versions of Apple Maps already show the new name, but on mobile devices, both ‘Lake Ontario’ and ‘Lake America’ appear at the time of this writing. The move aligns with other navigation apps that have updated their maps to reflect Trump’s directive, though not all map providers have followed suit. MapQuest became unexpectedly popular after it announced it would not be renaming Lake Ontario, leading to a spike in downloads.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and New York Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, both stated they would not be changing the name of the lake, according to a report from Yahoo News. The lake’s name has been used for over 400 years, and both officials emphasized that it would remain unchanged, Reuters reported.
This decision comes as Trump is involved in escalating trade tensions with Canada and conflict with Iran. Apple’s update reflects a broader trend of political influence on geographic naming in the U.S. under Trump’s leadership. The name change is limited to Apple Maps in the United States, with no indication that other map providers will follow suit.
The shift in naming is part of a larger pattern where public and private institutions respond to political directives from the president. Apple’s response has drawn attention for its speed and alignment with Trump’s executive actions. The company has not commented further on the matter, but the update is already visible in Apple Maps for U.S. users.
The name change does not affect any other geographic features, and the update is limited to how Lake Ontario appears in Apple Maps. It remains unclear whether this action will influence other tech companies or government agencies to adopt similar changes.