Following an order from US President Donald Trump, Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google have renamed Lake Ontario to "Lake America" on their respective maps services for users in the United States. This change comes as part of Trump's broader effort to assert power through rebranding, including a prior order to rename the Gulf of Mexico. Canada, however, maintains that the body of water, which straddles the US-Canada border, will always be known as Lake Ontario.
The renaming of Lake Ontario is a public manifestation of an escalating trade dispute between the US and Canada. This conflict involves a 50% US tariff on Canadian steel, which Canada has reciprocated with its own retaliatory tariffs. The dispute intensified after trade talks between the two countries collapsed last week, leading Trump to enact tariffs on roughly $20 billion worth of Canadian goods.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has stated that trade talks can only resume if US officials cease publicly insulting Canada. He reiterated that a "mutually beneficial" trade deal is still possible. Meanwhile, Canadian Minister Melanie Joly strongly reacted to Trump's threats, asserting, "We’ll always call it Lake Ontario, period."
In a symbolic protest, Canada erected a giant sign saying "Lake Ontario. Now and Always." In response, President Trump posted a video of himself tearing down an avatar of the Canadian sign, replacing it with one that says "Lake America," and dancing to YMCA. While Trump has broad authority over how the US government refers to geographic landmarks, he cannot compel other nations to adopt these changes, and Canada has flat-out rejected the renaming, emphasizing that Lake Ontario derives from an Indigenous Wendat word meaning "the lake is."
