Apple has become the latest tech giant to cave to President Donald Trump’s demand to change the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America.
Trump signed an executive order in late August to rename the body of water bounded by the Canadian province of Ontario and New York as the trade war between the U.S. and its northern neighbor escalated.
Google quickly agreed to change Lake Ontario to Lake America for U.S. users, and Apple did the same Tuesday, after Trump spoke directly with the company.
“I know that the president reached out to Apple directly, so I’m sure that we may be seeing that change coming up soon to Lake America,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told host Cheryl Casone, standing in for Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business’ Mornings with Maria Monday.
Google and Apple also changed the Gulf of Mexico on their Maps apps to the Gulf of America following an executive order Trump signed earlier in his second term. The Independent has reached out to Apple for comment on the Lake Ontario name change.
Democratic social media influencer Harry Sisson bashed Apple for the move, writing on X, “Apple Maps has changed Lake Ontario to Lake America after Trump pressured them to do so. It’s just so pathetic. Why go along with this stupidity??”
Google was also criticized for changing Lake Ontario to Lake America, with progressive media company MeidasTouch writing on X Sunday, “Google Maps has now capitulated to Donald Trump.”
MapQuest has refused to relabel Lake Ontario, writing on X, “We’re not changing it,” when Trump signed the executive order Thursday.
After defying Trump, MapQuest surged in App Store rankings, becoming the No. 1 navigation app and No. 8 overall free app on Sunday night — the highest chart position since the brand launched in 1996.
"We took the same approach we did with the Gulf of Mexico: be part of the conversation, and give people an app that keeps the names they're familiar with," Doug Berger, general manager of MapQuest, said in a Monday press release.
"Hundreds of thousands of people signaled to us this weekend that we got it right, by downloading our app."
