Trump's Strait of Hormuz and Lake Ontario name ideas 'annoy' USGS workers

Workers at the US Geological Survey expressed irritation over President Donald Trump's proposal to rename the Strait of Hormuz as the Trump Strait. This suggestion came after Trump ordered federal agencies to refer to Lake Ontario as Lake America during a trade dispute with Canada. A USGS employee stated that the proposal was "annoying" because name changes are typically agreed upon by a vote at the US Board on Geographic Names, not via executive order.

The employee added that the Lake Ontario name change is occurring at a time when Trump's popularity is at an all-time low. The agency would now have to change signs, maps, and other references to Lake Ontario, which they deemed a waste of taxpayer dollars and human time. Apple and Google, which use USGS information for their map software on billions of smartphones, changed Lake Ontario to Lake America for US users, leading to increased anger towards Trump.

There were also concerns that both Apple and Google would have to update their maps for other countries as well. One USGS employee suggested that Trump's motivation for renaming Lake Ontario was to annoy Canada. As for Trump's comments about renaming the Strait of Hormuz, USGS workers stated that any changes would only affect the US, as the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency handles international map standards for US federal agencies.