The change marks the second U.S.-based tech giant to follow President Donald Trump’s controversial order.
Published September 2, 2026
Technology company Apple has updated the label of Lake Ontario to “American Lakes” for users of its mapping application in the United States, following direct lobbying from President Donald Trump.
Tuesday’s move came on the same day that executive John Tarnas was named Apple’s new CEO.
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Apple has now become the second US-based tech giant to comply with President Trump’s controversial executive order. Google also announced Saturday that it has changed the name of its hugely popular Google Maps for U.S. users.
President Trump’s order cannot force private companies to change their naming conventions. However, the U.S. Geographic Name Information System, the reference guide that standardizes how the federal government references geographic features, will change.
Companies such as Google refer to their own map information systems.
Still, statements from Trump administration officials suggest the president has taken direct action to ensure that private companies that rely on the federal government for permits and contracts comply with the name change.
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said in an interview with Fox News on Monday that President Trump “reached out directly to Apple” last week to request a change to the lake’s name on Apple’s Maps app.
Apple has previously complied with name changes ordered by President Trump, such as renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America” and renaming Alaska’s Mount Denali to “Mount McKinley.”
It’s unclear whether Apple Maps will take a similar stance to rival Google regarding label changes. Apple did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.
Google reiterated in a statement Saturday that its maps conform to names listed in “official government sources.” As a result, users in the United States will see “Lake America,” users in Canada will see “Lake Ontario,” and viewers in other countries will see both labels.
But not all digital map companies are adhering to the changes President Trump has implemented.
MapQuest, a website that was popular in the 1990s and 2000s, opposed the now-viral name change, tweeting, “Name it whatever you want, whenever you want.”
The company’s smartphone app is currently listed as the top free application on Apple’s App Store.
President Trump’s efforts to rename Lake Ontario come amid worsening relations between the United States and Canada during his second term.
The president’s Lake America executive order was preceded by a setback in trade negotiations between the longtime allies that resulted in the United States imposing 50% tariffs on about $20 billion worth of Canadian goods.
Canada retaliated, vowing to impose its own tariffs on the same amount of U.S. exports.
Lake Ontario lies between the two countries and its name comes from the indigenous Wendat language. But President Trump is trying to increase U.S. influence throughout the Western Hemisphere, including changing naming conventions and making English the official language of the United States.
