Google said its Maps service will display the label “Lake America” for users in the United States, adopting the US government’s administrative renaming of Lake Ontario. Users in Canada and elsewhere will continue to see the traditional name.
The move follows a public dispute that intensified on Saturday between US President Donald Trump and Canada over the freshwater lake that straddles the border. Ottawa erected a giant sign reading “Lake Ontario. Now and Always.”
Trump responded by posting a video in which he tears down an avatar of the Canadian sign, replaces it with one reading “Lake America,” and dances to the song “YMCA.”
The naming quarrel is the visible edge of a wider trade conflict. The United States has imposed a 50% tariff on Canadian steel, and Ottawa has answered with retaliatory duties on American goods.
Google applies place names based on official government sources within each country. That practice means the same lake can carry different labels depending on where a user opens the app. The company followed a similar approach after earlier US renaming decisions.
Lake Ontario is the smallest of the five Great Lakes by surface area and forms part of the border between the US state of New York and the Canadian province of Ontario. It has carried its current name for centuries.
The renaming was issued through a US federal administrative order rather than any bilateral agreement. Canada has not recognized the change, and provincial and federal officials in Ottawa have rejected it publicly.
The exchange over the lake caps weeks of escalating friction over the renaming and the tariffs that underpin it. Both governments have used the dispute to appeal to domestic audiences.
Trade negotiations between Washington and Ottawa remain unresolved. No date has been set for further talks on the tariff measures driving the standoff.