Donald Trump Renames Lake Ontario 'Lake America,' Sparking Google Maps Backlash and a Bizarre AI Video

One of the Great Lakes just got a Trump makeover, but it’s Google Maps facing backlash after changing Lake Ontario to “Lake America.”

The change follows President Donald Trump's executive order renaming the lake as part of his escalating trade war with Canada. It's not Google's first act of cartographic capitulation, either — the company made a similar switch earlier this year, swapping "Gulf of Mexico" for Trump's preferred "Gulf of America."

The company's compliance hasn't gone unnoticed. Furious users flooded social media, accusing Google of caving to political pressure.

Commentator Matthew Yglesias in a post on X said he wanted a congressional hearing to ask "why they decided to go along with this bulls--t while Apple stayed normal." Apple Maps, notably, has not renamed the lake, though it did previously adopt "Gulf of America."

White House Communications Director Steven Cheung, meanwhile, celebrated the change online: "It's official! LAKE AMERICA on Google Maps."

Not every map service is playing along — MapQuest announced it won't rename the lake at all, instead rolling out a tool letting users rename it to literally anything they want.

As if the real-world renaming weren't strange enough, Trump posted an AI-generated video on Truth Social showing himself walking up to a "Welcome to Lake Ontario" sign, kicking it over, replacing it with a "Welcome to Lake America" sign topped with a flag, and finishing with his signature dance.

The clip followed an earlier post that day depicting an army of gun-wielding geese in Trump wigs.

The stunts arrive amid steep U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods, and Canadian retaliation, that stand to raise prices for both American consumers and businesses reliant on Canadian parts.

"This lake is called Lake Ontario — today and forever," Prime Minister Mark Carney declared, noting the name predates both Canadian Confederation and the U.S. Declaration of Independence. He traced the name to the Wendat word Ontari'io, meaning "the lake is beautiful, the lake is big," more than 400 years old.

Native American leaders have also condemned the renaming as an erasure of Indigenous history and a violation of treaties tied to the Great Lakes, including one signed by George Washington.

The U.S. has no authority to force Canada to adopt the new name. Nevertheless, Trump has floated renaming an ocean next.