Google Maps Renames Lake Ontario ‘Lake America’ Following Trump Executive Order
Google Maps has officially begun displaying Lake Ontario as “Lake America” to users in the United States.
The move comes days after President Donald Trump ordered the historic lake renamed amid his escalating trade war with Canada.
The change began rolling out over the weekend, making Google the first major online maps provider to implement Trump’s latest geographic rebranding.
Trump signed an executive order Thursday directing the federal government to adopt “Lake America” as the official U.S. name for Lake Ontario, the easternmost of the five Great Lakes.
The move follows Trump’s 2025 decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
This change that was subsequently adopted for U.S. users by major mapping services after federal geographic databases were updated.
Google said it is following the U.S. Geographic Names Information System.
“People using Maps in the U.S. will see ‘Lake America,’ those in Canada will continue to see ‘Lake Ontario,’ and those outside of the U.S. and Canada will see both names,” the company said.
The renaming is the latest flashpoint in the ongoing trade dispute between Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Trade negotiations collapsed earlier this month after Carney chose to walk away.
The breakdown led Trump to impose U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods, with retaliatory Canadian tariffs expected to take effect on September 8th.
Carney has pushed back on Trump’s executive order.
“We know that America is changing,” Carney said. “Their trading relationships, their foreign policies, their national monuments, their hydronyms.”
“Canadians also know that naming reality means calling it Lake Ontario — then, now and always.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford joined the protest Saturday, unveiling a large lakeside sign declaring “Lake Ontario Now and Always.”
Ford has recently threatened to cut off electricity to the U.S. over the disputed.
It’s Lake Ontario, now and always. pic.twitter.com/KNahtPAMeJ
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) August 29, 2026
Trump, meanwhile, posted an AI-generated video depicting ducks sporting his signature hairstyle and carrying semiautomatic weapons while guarding a body of water beneath a “Lake America” sign.
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