Apple Maps on Tuesday followed its competitor’s lead in altering its map to reflect President Donald Trump’s renaming of Lake Ontario to “Lake America.”
Trump signed an executive order last week renaming Lake Ontario, which lies in both the United States and Canada, to “Lake America.” Google changed its maps over the weekend, and like with previous changes, Apple followed suit days later.
Apple Maps now shows “Lake America” on the U.S. half of the lake. The name “Lake Ontario” had hovered above Canada’s side of the border.
The move comes after Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Trump reached out to Apple directly to request the update after the president signed an executive order renaming the lake.
When Trump signed an executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, Apple had also been slower than Google in altering its map to reflect the new name.
Trump’s decree is only binding for the U.S. government and has no effect on foreign governments, international bodies, or private companies, though they can choose to update names at their own discretion. Google has said it updated the name “to reflect name changes in official government sources.”
“These updates follow our long-standing policy for bodies of water with names that vary from country to country,” Google said in a statement.
TRUMP SIGNED AN ORDER TO RENAME LAKE ONTARIO TO LAKE AMERICA — WHAT TO KNOW
In his executive order, Trump said the move stems from one of his first executive orders, signed on the first day of his second term, “Restoring Names that Honor American Greatness.” He also argued that the renaming was based on a utilitarian argument, saying the U.S. does more than Canada to protect and maintain the Great Lakes.
Trump renaming the lake followed tumultuous relationships with Canada after he signed three proclamations imposing 50% tariffs on a variety of Canadian goods on July 20, which were set to take effect in mid-August. The tariffs were delayed as the U.S. and Canada engaged in talks to stop the tariffs. Just hours before the deadline on Aug. 21, however, negotiations entirely collapsed, and the 50% tariffs took effect on nearly $20 billion in Canadian exports.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Apple for comment.