BS BULLETIN:
- Google Maps has officially changed Lake Ontario to “Lake America” for users in the United States after President Trump ordered the federal government to rename it last week.
- Canadians looking at the exact same lake still see “Lake Ontario,” while users elsewhere in the world get both: “Lake Ontario (Lake America).”
- Google says it is simply following its longstanding policy of using official U.S. government geographic names — while Apple Maps, at least for now, is still holding out.
Well, Kathy Hochul isn’t going to like this.
Neither is Canada.
President Trump’s “Lake America” is now officially on Google Maps.
Google has updated the enormous body of water formerly known to American map users as Lake Ontario after the Trump administration changed its name in the federal Geographic Names Information System.
Open Google Maps in the United States and you now see: Lake America.
Cross the border into Canada? Lake Ontario.
And if you’re sitting somewhere else in the world watching Americans and Canadians fight over what to call 7,340 square miles of water? You get both. “Lake Ontario (Lake America).”
Welcome to cartography, 2026.
Google says there’s no political endorsement involved. “Since we update Google Maps to reflect name changes in official government sources, which is GNIS for the US, people using Maps in the US will see ‘Lake America,’ those in Canada will continue to see ‘Lake Ontario,’ and those outside of the US and Canada will see both names,” the company said.
In other words: Don’t yell at Google. Yell at the map.
The Daily BS has been following this wonderfully ridiculous international feud from the beginning. Trump first floated “Lake America” last week as his trade war with Canada intensified.
Two days later, he actually did it.
Trump signed an executive order directing the Interior Department and Board on Geographic Names to change federal records to Lake America. That produced an immediate rebellion from New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. “New York won’t be calling it that,” she declared.
Then came Canada. Ontario Premier Doug Ford put up a giant sign proclaiming: “LAKE ONTARIO. NOW AND ALWAYS.”
Trump answered with an AI-generated video showing himself knocking down a Lake Ontario sign, replacing it with Lake America and dancing to “YMCA.” As we reported Friday, MAGA was enjoying every second of it.
Now the trolling has escaped Truth Social and landed on millions of phones.
Apple apparently hasn’t received the memo. An Axios comparison Sunday found Google Maps displaying “Lake America” on both mobile and desktop while Apple Maps continued showing “Lake Ontario.”
Google’s decision mirrors what it did after Trump renamed the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America in 2025. Its policy is to use official government names based upon the user’s location when countries disagree over a geographic name. So Canada hasn’t lost Lake Ontario.
America hasn’t exactly conquered it. We’ve simply reached the point where two people standing on opposite sides of the same lake can pull out their phones and Google will tell each of them they’re right.
DBS WIRE SOURCES
- The Hill — Google Maps Renames Lake Ontario to Lake America for U.S. Users
- Associated Press — Lake Ontario Now Called Lake America on Google Maps for U.S. Users After Trump Ordered Name Change
- Reuters — Google Maps Will Show ‘Lake America’ in U.S., Not ‘Lake Ontario’
- Axios — Google Maps Switches to ‘Lake America’ as Canada Compares Change to ‘SNL’ Skit
- CBS News — Google Updates Maps to Show ‘Lake America’ in U.S. After Trump Executive Order
