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Trump Orders Lake Ontario Renamed to Lake America; Google Maps Complies
President Trump signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America on Thursday. Google Maps began showing the name change to U.S. users over the weekend, amid escalating trade tensions with Canada.
President Trump signed an executive order on August 27, 2026 directing the Interior Department to rename Lake Ontario to Lake America, citing the lake's importance to the U.S. economy. The U.S. Geographic Names Information System formally updated the name, and Google Maps began displaying the change for U.S. users on Saturday, August 30. For Canadian users, the lake remains labeled Lake Ontario on Google Maps; users outside both countries see both names. Google said it was following its long-standing policy for bodies of water with names that differ by country. The renaming occurred amid an escalating trade war between the U.S. and Canada. Trump had threatened the name change earlier in the week as trade talks collapsed, leading both countries to impose reciprocal tariffs of up to 50% on certain goods. Trump marked the rollout by posting an AI-generated video on Truth Social showing a flock of Canadian geese, digitally altered with his own hairstyle, "patrolling" Lake America while firing rifles into the air -- a piece of trolling that underscored the theatrical intent behind the order. Ontario Premier Doug Ford dismissed the move directly, telling ABC News it was "like something out of Saturday Night Live" and insisting "no one's going to call it Lake America. It's been Lake Ontario for hundreds of years. It's going to continue to be Lake Ontario." Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney noted that the name Ontario derives from the Wendat word "Ontari'io," meaning "the lake is beautiful, the lake is big." Canadian officials, Indigenous nations, and some Americans have objected to the move. The Seneca Nation called on Trump to rescind the order, arguing it violated the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua and erased their cultural heritage; in Seneca, the lake is called "sga:nyodai:yoh," meaning "beautiful lake." The move mirrors Trump's earlier renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America in 2025, which prompted Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to sue Google over the change. While Google complied with both renamings, other platforms took different approaches: MapQuest refused to change the name, and Apple Maps still shows Lake Ontario for U.S. users as of Sunday. The order gives the government 30 days to complete the name change in official systems, though Google moved within 48 hours.