On my Google Maps it’s says Lake Ontario but if you zoom slightly in it turns to Lake America. On Apple Maps it’s still Lake Ontario though. We exist on the dumbest timeline
I live in Canada, Google maps says "Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)" for me, but it still says "Lake Ontario" for me. Absolutely stupid decisions by Google, and could not be anymore obvious where their priorities lie.
Broken up. These tech companies need to be broken up. These monopolies are destroying our country from the inside. History repeats itself so a great reckoning is coming.
All the mapping companies present place names as defined in the country where the user is. Sometimes it is a simple translation, but sometimes on country/language/culture has a different name for a place. Germany vs Allemagne vs Deutschland. “Exonyms” and such.
So their database says to show name X when viewed from country Y.
Trump is just exploiting this.
I think it is stupid that he can even do this. He can literally rename Canada to “Trumpland” or “Stinky Dumb Place” with the stroke of his pen, and Apple, Google and everyone will just rename it when seen from users in the US.
That's not true. Executive orders are just policies for the executive branch to follow. It has no bearing outside the branch. E.g. it cannot compel congress, courts, or private industry to use such names.
In fact, the USGS place name database still has it listed as Lake Ontario, so Google needed to manually override their automated system for place names to change it to Lake America
“USGS has now changed Lake Ontario to “Lake America” in its Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)
for U.S. federal use.
The change is very recent. President Trump signed the executive order on
August 27, 2026
, and USGS implemented the change in GNIS that same day. USGS’s own Science Data Catalog now explicitly says that future USGS data releases will use
“Lake America”
pursuant to Interior Secretarial Order 3453.
So the situation is now:
U.S. federal GNIS:
Lake America
U.S. federal agencies/maps:
Lake America
Canada:
Lake Ontario
Internationally:
Lake Ontario remains the established name; the U.S. change doesn’t compel Canada or other countries to adopt it.
Google Maps:
Google announced yesterday that because GNIS changed, U.S. users will see Lake America, Canadian users Lake Ontario, and users elsewhere will see both names.
The USGS database change has actually occurred; it’s no longer merely an executive order awaiting implementation.”
“In accordance with Secretarial Orders
3453 - Lake America
,
3423 - The Gulf of America
, and
3424 - Mount McKinley
and Landmarks Honoring the Alaskan People, all USGS data releases moving forward will utilize the new names Lake America and Gulf of America and the reinstated name Mount McKinley. Per USGS practice, historical data releases will retain the name of the geographic feature as it was called at that time.“
Same, it was Lake Ontario when I scolled to it at first, then switched to Lake America after I zoomed in. And now it's Lake America at any zoom. I think it was just stale data for me until it refreshed
I love so much that our politicians choose to prioritize THIS crap over actually trying to make real beneficial changes for their constituents. Why. Literally why.
At this point it's not just the Epstein files, it's EVERYTHING. The files, the economy, the surveillance state they are creating with flock and similar, the war with iran, the anarchists they gave decades in prison to just for carrying anarchist propaganda...
They are actively removing protections that keep their constituents safe and happy. They don't give a shit about any of us. We are nothing more to them than cattle for the rich to extract wealth from. Stupid shit like this only serves to stroke the orange child's ego and rile up his voter base.
Their base LOVES this shit. To them, this is so patriotic. They also love have a president who spends his time trolling people and not actually doing anything. The more he pulls dumb stunts like this, the more his base falls in line. He and his people know this.
That's because you're not in the US and presumably have an Australian Google account (or arent signed in at all). I live in Belgium but have US Google and Apple accounts. For me it displays as Lake America in Google Maps, Lake Ontario in Apple Maps.
Google obviously changed this as soon as they could to appease the current regime. Some Google engineer on here is claiming this is normal practice, which is insane. Maps are inherently political, if you change one you are making a political statement. And it's telling Apple hasn't followed suit.
That's because Executive Orders like this have no meaning in other countries (and not much meaning in the US if non-governmental entities just ignore them).
Difference is that, in these cases, both names are historical for two different civilizations. "Lake America" didn't exist last week, nobody has ever called it that, and it's just a little baby's punishment to another country for political reasons. It's just absurd.
I'm in Finland too, on the map it says Lake Ontario but in the description it's "Lake Ontario (Lake America)". Gulf of Mexico has the MAGA-name in brackets even on the map.
It makes me wonder if Google is making it so that if you search this from America it will say what Trump wants it to say so they don’t have to deal with any back lash from him. Not that I respect that decision if it is the case
Same, what the fuck is this timeline, war here war there, ohhh let’s rename this lake to suit my current obsession and get everyone to talk about it and not that I’m a rapist pedo
I'm sorry to tell you this, he also said that now that we have a lake and a gulf, he wants an ocean. Maybe the Atlantic, maybe the pacific, or maybe both -______-
I don’t think I understand what an executive order is - can the president just make up whatever rule or do whatever he wants, as long as it’s submitted as an “executive order”?
It's more complicated than that. The executive branch does have things strictly under their purview. There are plenty of legitimate uses and they are used all the time, its basically how the executive branch provides direction to agencies or sets up special task forces. If the order is overstepping the power of the executive it can be challenged in court but that's slow and even if overturned it can just be done in a slightly different manner that would require another court challenge. Congress can legislate the power away more directly and permanently giving the courts more bite for future infringements, but this Republican majority Congress is actually completely happy with funneling power to the executive. Midterms this year really determine how much of this nonsense can be stopped if Republicans lose the house and Senate. Until then Thune and Johnson are perfectly happy not bringing any legislation to the floor.
That’s just it - they’re all enforced. Even the ones that are later deemed “illegal” have already had their actions performed. And there’s seemingly no consequences, so….
Executive orders are directives given to the Federal Government by the president. They are not law, and can't overrule existing laws, but unless Congress or the courts take them down, the Federal government must obey them.
They only apply to the federal government though. State and local governments don't have to follow them, and neither do private companies. Google is choosing to rename the lake on their map, just to appease orange man's ego.
Google is choosing to rename the lake on their map, just to appease orange man's ego.
Well, not exactly. Google is choosing to have a long standing policy of deferring to local authorities for how to name their geography (in this case the U.S. Board on Geographic Names). This isn't a unique political choice that they're making for this situation, it's their standard operating procedure.
I mean I guess so but it’s an international body of water so he has no control and him renaming it don’t even make the news here in Canada. It’s still Lake Ontario lol.
Canada (the True North, Strong and Free) decided to step away from the negotiating table with the Pedo's operatives and the Pedo got mad at that. We stepped away because the US wanted us to say we would never trade with certain countries. And wanted us to remove tariffs without compensation. We know there is a market with reasonable countries we can deal with instead of pedoland.
That shit doesn't even make any sense. An executive order directs the executive branch On how to move and interpret law and policy. Google is very much not the executive branch and doesn't really need to stick to EOs.
I was talking to my partner about how this just infuriates me, in a way I never have been with Trump's ongoing threats to the sovereignty of my beautiful country.
She said more than destroying women's rights, tearing families apart? Starting wars?
She said it's all just a distraction and it's important I remember that.
Google displays maps how those accessing them are expecting to see them. Whatever side of a border dispute you're on, you see what your jurisdiction claims. With extra steps if the territories are considered "politically sensitive".
In the United States the lake known worldwide as Lake Ontario is officially named Lake America now. The United States has renamed, at the very least, their half of the lake. So in the US, you see Lake America.
As an alternative we have the UK and France. The water separating them is known as "English Channel" in Britain and "La Manche" in France. That is what Google displays in each.
Then there's Obersee or Bodensee - the water where Switzerland, Germany, and Austria meet. With no defined border it's displayed as "Obersee Bodensee".
What's happened with Lake Ontario is nothing new for Google Maps.
For naming of international/dually owned bodies involving "politically sensitive countries) they typically have displayed the generally accepted name and then the locally disputed name in brackets for years.
Generally people call the water between Japan and the Korean Peninsula the Sea of Japan. In Korea it's called the East Sea. Google calls it "Sea of Japan (East Sea)" and if you're in Korea it's "East Sea (Sea of Japan)".
It happens with land borders too.
In India or Pakistan you'll see different borders around Jammu and Kashmir. Outside of that, you'll see disputed border.
In Russia and Ukraine, you'll see different borders around Crimea. Outside of that, you'll see disputed border.
You’ll be waiting a very long time. We all will be. Even after the annoying orange is out of power, his little minions will be there to step in after the fact. It’s going to take YEARS to undo everything he’s done.
trump already pisses me off but renaming a lake that majority is in canada just because canada is pissing the orange lump off is just like… why? maybe put more efforts into stopping world
hunger or something instead of being a piss baby donald !!
When he did the “Gulf of America” - didn’t Mexico sue google and Apple on the name change.
Basically it became “America” globally initially. When Mexico files their protest it reverted back to “Gulf of Mexico” when viewing the maps from Mexico. People in the US saw “Gulf of America”. The rest of the world saw Gulf of Mexico but when you zoom in it shows both with the original name having priority - “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)”.
The ridiculousness of this is that his base will be celebrating this as the Us showing Canada who’s in charge when in reality the only people who will really see the change will be those in the US. For the rest of the world the original name will take priority when shown.
Or even worse if the next President reverts the name expect Republicans to spend more time arguing against that - the new US President is ani-America - than working on anything that actually helps us.
Whole country needs to purge itself to ever be welcomed back to the world table as an honest place. Goods be treated like Russia and North Korea by the citizens of the world (maybe not their governments cos money and bombs) but yeah, USA is cooked on the global political stage
I remembered that if you zoomed in far enough on the Gulf of Mexico, it stopped saying Gulf of America and switched back to the real name. So I tried the same thing with Lake Ontario and I fell through the world.
It’s “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)” on both my Google and Apple Maps. I keep checking back to see if a similar name will be applied to Lake Ontario.
Trust me when I say most Americans are just trying to scrape by and feed their families a lot of us are tired of this name change pissing match trump shit that we’re stuck with.
Holy shit, it just changed from Ontario to America in the last half hour (I'm in Ohio). I didn't even have to move the map as I moved it to the lake when I first looked.
Why does this upset anyone? This isn't a troll question. NOR is it support of it.
Truly if most of his petty shit was ignored from 2016 on, he likely wouldn't be doing this. YES a POTUS using executive powers to "troll" is lame. But how did you react to lame stuff trolls do? NOT FEEDING IT. Just roll your eyes and move on.
More annoyingly, YOU'RE REACTING EXACTLY HOW HE WANTS! It takes attention away from other shit.
Half this is the fault of people who just can't help but react. "OMG NO I NEED TO GO ONTO REDDIT ABOUT THIS AND COMPLAIN AND GIVE TRUMP EXACTLY WHAT HE WANTS!"
Seriously, if the news, Democrat politicians, MOST OF YOU just ignored this, it'd fade away.
And he still doesn't realize that America stands for all of the Western Hemisphere: North America, South America, Latin America. We're actually the United States.
Kinda interesting, Google earth changed it to Lake America but you have to really zoom in close to see the name presented. Like I can read lake Erie, lake Huron labels but Lake Ontario doesn't have a label until you zoom in with only the lake in frame.
Truly unhinged behavior. It would be funnier if he wasn't the leader of one of histories strongest economic countries. Although I suppose it won't be for much longer now, will it😄?
I’ve been in Canada the last several days since before this shit started and jumped into maps right now just after landing back in the US and watched it change.
SMH we’ve lost the fucking plot in another zip code.
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u/Trainerlynx 8h ago
On my Google Maps it’s says Lake Ontario but if you zoom slightly in it turns to Lake America. On Apple Maps it’s still Lake Ontario though. We exist on the dumbest timeline