MapQuest publicly rejected President Donald Trump’s federal renaming of Lake Ontario as “Lake America,” declaring “We’re not changing it” and drawing a wave of mocking and supportive reactions across social media.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
MapQuest is refusing to follow President Donald Trump’s decision to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America” for U.S. federal purposes, publicly declaring that the longtime mapping service intends to retain the lake’s existing name.
The company made its position clear Thursday shortly after Trump signed the executive order, posting an image of Lake Ontario on its X account accompanied by a blunt statement.
“We’re not changing it,” MapQuest wrote.
The post widely, but much of the response quickly turned from the political dispute over the lake’s name to jokes about MapQuest itself.
“You guys are still around?” one user wrote.
Another commenter delivered a similar reaction.
“Bruh I thought you guys died in like 2006,” the user wrote.
A third response mocked the prospect of boycotting the service over its position.
“To do list: Delete MapQuest app. Wait a minute…no one uses it,” the commenter replied.
The online exchange followed Trump’s executive action Thursday directing the federal government to adopt “Lake America” as the new name for Lake Ontario within its geographic naming system.
“The order specifically instructs Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum to update the lake’s name in the Geographic Names Information Service. On Tuesday, the White House shared a video where Trump crossed out Lake Ontario on a map and replaced it with Lake America,” Breitbart News reported.
“When asked what message the name change sends, Trump said there was ‘no message’ he was sending to Canada, but proceeded to say America’s neighbor to the north has long been ‘ripping’ the United States off.”
The naming decision comes amid a rapidly deteriorating trade relationship between Washington and Ottawa.
Trump announced a 50 percent tariff on Canadian automobiles and steel scheduled to take effect in 2027 after efforts to reach a new trade agreement with Canada failed.
The lake dispute has consequently emerged as a symbolic extension of a much larger economic confrontation between the neighboring countries.
MapQuest did not treat its first statement as a one-off response.
The company reiterated its position in another post, again saying it would continue identifying the body of water as Lake Ontario.
It also created a separate webpage allowing users to assign the lake a name of their own choosing.
Trump’s order applies to the U.S. government’s Geographic Names Information Service and does not require private mapping companies or Canada to adopt the designation.
That distinction leaves services such as MapQuest free to determine how the lake appears on their own platforms.
Lake Ontario itself spans the international boundary and remains a geographic and economic resource shared by both countries.
According to the Center for Great Lakes Literacy, “Lake Ontario is shared between the United States and Canada providing many environmental, economic and social benefits. Lake Ontario is the easternmost of the Great Lakes, bordered by the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. states of New York and Pennsylvania.”
The lake is the smallest of the five Great Lakes when measured by surface area and the second smallest by volume.
“Lakes are often described by their volume—the amount of water they contain—and their surface area—the space covered by water from all shores,” the organization states. “Like other Great Lakes, Lake Ontario’s size is measured by both its volume and surface area. It is the smallest of the lakes by surface area and the second smallest by volume. Globally, Lake Ontario ranks as the fourteenth largest lake by surface area.”
The White House’s renaming announcement also generated additional social media attention as the administration promoted the change.
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