Google Maps renames Lake Ontario ‘Lake America’ in US — but not Canada
WASHINGTON, Aug 31 — Google redesignated Lake Ontario as “Lake America” on maps seen by US users yeste...
On August 31, Google updated its US-based maps to label Lake Ontario as "Lake America," following a decision made by President Donald Trump. The alteration was made to align with the US Geographic Names Information System, the official federal database for geographic names. However, Canadians will continue to see the lake labeled as "Lake Ontario," its name used since the 17th century.
The name change came as part of Trump's "America First" narrative, which has seen the United States and Canada engage in a trade war marked by reciprocal tariffs on each other's products. The dispute has put a strain on their deep interconnected auto manufacturing sectors, where Canada supplies a significant portion of parts used in US-made vehicles.
Trump criticized Canadian cars, parts, and anything else Canadian in a post on his Truth Social platform. The change follows Trump's earlier act of renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America in January 2025, a move that Mexico has also rejected. Ontario, the smallest of the five Great Lakes, lies between the Ontario province in Canada and the state of New York in the US.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford expressed strong disapproval of the name change and trade dispute, calling it "absolutely backwards" and likening it to a "Saturday Night Live" sketch. Ford warned that a trade war would harm the US more than Canada, as Canada is the largest purchaser of US vehicles. Trump, however, highlighted the success of Ford Motor Company's Detroit plant and threatened to double tariffs on Canadian auto parts, sparking a counter-tariff from Canada on US goods ranging from 15 to 50 percent.
Written by urgent.news from Malay Mail's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
