“We’re not changing it,” MapQuest said in a statement on social media
Credit: Mapquest (2)
NEED TO KNOW
- MapQuest refused to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America” despite an executive order from President Donald Trump
- The mapping service surged to the No. 1 spot on Apple’s App Store after its decision
- In a statement shared to X, MapQuest simply said, “We’re not changing it”
MapQuest has found an unexpected route back into the spotlight after refusing to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America.”
The mapping service climbed to the No. 1 spot among free apps on Apple’s App Store this week, even surpassing ChatGPT, after publicly announcing that it would continue using the lake’s historical name despite President Donald Trump’s executive order directing the U.S. government to recognize “Lake America,” according to CBS News.
MapQuest announced its decision on Aug. 27, the same day Trump signed the executive order. The company’s response was brief: “We’re not changing it,” they said in a statement posted to X.
The company later addressed the issue once more, writing, “We are aware that Lake Ontario is being correctly labeled on our map.”
MapQuest, which launched nearly three decades ago during the early days of online mapping, also introduced a feature allowing users to create their own name for the lake, according to CBS News.
The sudden popularity comes amid a growing dispute over what the body of water should be called. Trump’s executive order directed the federal government to use “Lake America,” while Canada has continued to recognize the body of water as Lake Ontario.
Google Maps has adopted the new name for users in the United States. Americans see “Lake America,” while users in Canada continue to see “Lake Ontario.” Users in other parts of the world can see both names.
The controversy has also highlighted the complicated nature of renaming a body of water shared by two countries. While the U.S. government can determine what federal agencies call the lake, Canada has no obligation to recognize the change. Following the executive order, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney slammed the Trump administration on social media.
“The name Lake Ontario comes from the Wendat word Ontari’io, which, appropriately, means ‘the lake is beautiful, the lake is big,’ ” Carney, 61, wrote in an Aug. 27 post on X.
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“The name is more than 400 years old, predating both the Confederation of Canada and the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America,” Carney continued. “We know that America is changing. Their trading relationships, their foreign policies, their national monuments, their hydronyms.”
“Canadians also know that naming reality means calling it Lake Ontario – then, now and always,” he said.
Carney’s relationship with Trump has been strained amid trade talks between the U.S. and Canada, which collapsed late last month when Trump instituted 50% tariffs on $20B in Canadian goods. Canada responded by proposing $20B in tariffs starting Sept. 8, Reuters reported.
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