U.S. Interior Secretary said on Monday that Apple may soon change the label “Lake Ontario” to “Lake America” on its mapping service, following a conversation with President Donald Trump.
The push comes after Google made the switch for U.S.-based users over the weekend. Apple has not confirmed whether it will alter the name, and the company declined to publicly commit to a timeline.
The renaming effort has divided major U.S. map providers. Google now displays “Lake America” to users inside the United States, while showing the original name elsewhere. MapQuest, another U.S.-based provider, said it will not adopt the change.
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes and forms part of the border between the United States and Canada. Any renaming applied only to U.S. users would create a split between how the lake appears domestically and internationally.
The move follows earlier decisions by the Trump administration to relabel geographic features. The president has previously pushed to rename other bodies of water, part of a broader pattern that has drawn objections from Canada.
Trump’s request to Apple mirrors an earlier appeal to the company, and comes as the administration presses private technology firms to align their products with government-preferred naming. The differing responses from Google, Apple and MapQuest have left the label inconsistent across platforms.
Tech companies face a practical dilemma. Adopting the name pleases the administration but risks backlash from users and from Canada, while refusing it invites political pressure. MapQuest’s decision to hold the original name has drawn attention as an alternative stance.
Apple has not issued a formal statement on the Interior Secretary’s remarks. No date has been set for any change to appear on Apple Maps.