Trump Presses Apple To Rename Lake Ontario ‘Lake America’

President Donald Trump has directly urged Apple to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America” on its mapping service, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Monday, as the administration continues efforts to put the new name into wider use.

Speaking on Fox Business Monday morning, Burgum said Trump had contacted Apple “directly” about the change and predicted that an update from the company was “coming up soon.” As of 10 a.m. EDT Monday, however, Apple Maps continued to identify the body of water as Lake Ontario for users in the United States.

Apple has already adopted other geographic name changes promoted by the Trump administration. Its U.S. users see “Gulf of America” rather than Gulf of Mexico and “Mount McKinley” instead of Denali. Apple had not immediately responded to a request for comment on whether it plans to change Lake Ontario’s name.

The administration formally changed Lake Ontario to Lake America in federal databases through an executive order Trump signed Thursday. The move came amid an escalating trade dispute between the United States and Canada, including retaliatory tariffs imposed by the Canadian government.

Google Maps moved more quickly. The service began displaying “Lake America” for users in the United States over the weekend, while Canadian users continue to see Lake Ontario. Users outside the two countries are shown both names. Google said its mapping data relies on the U.S. Geographic Names Information System, or GNIS, for official geographic names.

Burgum explained that the federal database update is ultimately incorporated into mapping services. “They plug that into the software, and then that software cascades down to all the map providers,” he said, describing the technical process behind changing established geographic names as part of the “inside baseball” of the effort.

Not every mapping provider has followed the administration’s approach. MapQuest said Thursday that it would not rename the lake, stating, “we’re not changing it.” The company also launched an online tool allowing users to create their own alternative name for Lake Ontario.