Trump's map wars continue: After Google's switch, Apple asked to rename Lake Ontario 'Lake America' too

US President Donald Trump has asked Apple to rename Lake Ontario as "Lake America" on its Maps app, his administration's interior chief said on Monday, according to AP.

The request comes days after Trump signed an executive order on the body of water, which has become a flashpoint in his escalating trade war with Canada.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told Fox News' "Mornings with Maria" that Trump had "reached out to Apple directly." Burgum said he was confident the "Lake America" name would appear on the platform soon.


Also read: Google calls Lake Ontario “Lake America” in the US. Here’s why Canadians are seeing the controversial new name too

Apple had not responded to the request for comment as of Monday afternoon. Only the "Lake Ontario" label appeared on its platform at the time, though it was positioned above Canada's water border.

Over the weekend, Google Maps rolled out the "Lake America" name for US users viewing the lake, which sits between New York state and Canada's Ontario province. Google cited Trump's recent executive order and its existing policy of using names assigned by the US Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).

According to AP, Google said in a statement on Saturday that users in the US would see "Lake America," those in Canada would continue to see "Lake Ontario," and users outside both countries would see both names. The company said this follows its long-standing policy for water bodies with names that vary by country.

Trump had declared the "Lake America" name last week, in what AP described as one of the latest provocations in his trade dispute with Canada, which has led to rising tariffs on both sides of the border. His executive order, signed on Friday, directed the Interior Department to update the lake's name in the US geographic naming database.

AP noted that Trump cannot compel Canada to adopt the name, and Canadian officials have criticized the move. The report added that the leader of the Seneca Nation in upstate New York said the renaming violates a treaty more than 225 years old and disregards the Indigenous people who originally named Lake Ontario.

This is not the first instance of Trump seeking to rename a body of water shared across borders. AP recalled that last year, Trump ordered the Gulf of Mexico be renamed the Gulf of America, a change both Apple and Google subsequently reflected on their US maps.

(With inputs from AP)