Apple is the latest big tech company to go along with President Trump’s order to change the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America.
Apple implemented the name change on its map app on Tuesday, after Trump personally reached out about the matter, according to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.
Meanwhile, MapQuest has surged to the top of Apple’s App Store after refusing to adopt the controversial moniker, according to app-ranking data reviewed by The Post.
The navigation app grabbed the No. 1 spot among free apps in Apple’s US App Store — edging out ChatGPT at No. 2 — after declaring it would stick with the centuries-old Lake Ontario name.
MapQuest also climbed to No. 5 among the top overall free Android apps in the US, the data showed.
The sudden surge followed a stark split among mapping apps after Trump signed an executive order on Aug. 27 directing all federal agencies to refer to Lake Ontario as Lake America.
The president made the move after talks on a new trade deal with Canada broke down amid mutual recriminations between the two governments.
“We’re not changing it,” MapQuest declared in a terse social media post the day of the executive order.
The company subsequently made clear it would keep Lake Ontario as its default map name, even as its larger rivals moved in the opposite direction.
Google began rolling out Lake America for US users on Aug. 29 after the name was changed in the federal Geographic Names Information System, or GNIS, according to the company’s public statement.
Apple soon followed suit, though a majority of Americas oppose both the renaming and Trump’s new tariffs on Canada, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.
On both Google and Apple’s map apps, while US users see Lake America, international users continue to see Lake Ontario.
MapQuest, meanwhile, framed its refusal as a product decision to preserve names familiar to its users rather than automatically conform to the federal change.
Burgum issued a directive the same day as Trump’s executive order instructing the US Board on Geographic Names to immediately implement the change and update GNIS. The federal database subsequently listed the body of water as Lake America.
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency said last week that it also implemented the change in the Geographic Names Server. The governing federal framework standardizes geographic nomenclature for federal government use.
Still, the federal action cannot require Canada, New York State or private mapping companies to use the new name.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul quickly rejected the new moniker.
“New York won’t be calling it that,” she said online.
Canadian officials have also continued to use Lake Ontario, while Ontario Premier Doug Ford unveiled a lakeside sign declaring: “Lake Ontario: Now and Always” — with a French-language version of the phrase, to boot.
“Canada has been a bad neighbor by ripping off our country for years,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers told The Post.
“President Trump promised voters that he would not allow our country to be taken advantage of anymore, which is why he is fighting so hard to protect American industries and workers.”
Rogers added: “Thanks to the President’s bold leadership, we are putting America back on the map.”
A Google spokesperson referred The Post to its blog item explaining its decision. The Post has sought comment from MapQuest and Apple.
