Google Maps shows Lake America for U.S. users

Google has begun changing how Lake Ontario appears on its maps for users in the United States, displaying the body of water as “Lake America” after President Trump signed an executive order directing the federal government to adopt the new name amid a worsening trade fight with Canada.

The company said Saturday that people using Google Maps in the United States will see “Lake America,” while users in Canada will continue to see “Lake Ontario.” Users outside the two countries will see both names, with “Lake America” appearing in parentheses, according to CBS News. Google said the change follows its practice of relying on official government naming sources.

“These updates follow our long-standing policy for bodies of water with names that vary from country to country, and are starting to roll out now,” Google said.

Trump signed the executive order last week, directing Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to update the Geographic Names Information System, which works with the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to standardize geographic names for federal use. The order applies to U.S. government references to the lake, which lies between New York and Canada, with the international border running through it.

The move has drawn sharp pushback in Canada. Ontario Premier Doug Ford unveiled a large billboard Saturday on the Canadian shoreline reading “Lake Ontario — Now and Always,” with the message written in English and French. NPR reported the sign was placed near the U.S. border along a major road used by many Americans visiting Canada.

“President Trump can call it whatever he wants, but I can tell you the rest of the world will always call it Lake Ontario,” Ford told reporters.

“We’re resilient and we’re strong Canadians who are always going to protect our sovereignty, always, and we’ll never ever back down from a bully, ever,” he said.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney also rejected the name change last week, writing on X, “Canadian women and men … know that things must be called by their name, and this lake is called Lake Ontario — today and forever.”

Trump tied the renaming to stalled trade talks with Canada. “We have a gulf, and we have a lake, now all we need is an ocean,” he told reporters in the Oval Office at the signing, NPR reported. He also said Canada was difficult to deal with on trade: “People — oftentimes they’ll ask me, who’s the worst to deal with on trade? And I said, that’s easy. Canada. They are the worst at trade. And they feel entitled, and just — we can’t have that.”

The dispute comes after negotiations between the United States and Canada failed to end a trade standoff. The U.S. began imposing 50% tariffs on hundreds of Canadian goods earlier this month, CBS News reported. Carney said Canada would impose matching tariffs of up to 50% on billions of dollars of U.S. goods next month. NPR reported Carney promised to match U.S. tariffs “dollar for dollar.”

On Sunday, Trump wrote on Truth Social, “Canada has been ripping us off for years – NO LONGER!” White House Communications Director Steven Cheung celebrated the Google Maps change on X, writing, “It’s official! LAKE AMERICA on Google Maps.”

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, whose state borders the lake, said after the order that “New York won’t be calling it that.” In a video posted to YouTube, she said renaming the lake was “deflecting from the real needs of Americans.”

Trump previously directed the federal government to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. Google also changed Maps labels for that body of water based on location: U.S. users see “Gulf of America,” users in Mexico see “Gulf of Mexico,” and users elsewhere see both names, NPR reported.