MapQuest has seen a surge in app downloads after the company said it will not rename Lake Ontario to Lake America, following an executive order President Donald Trump issued last week amid an ongoing trade war with Canada.
“We’re not changing it,” the navigation service posted on social media last week, after Trump announced his decision to rename the lake. MapQuest, which claims to be the first internet mapping service, said it has seen a significant increase in downloads since.
As of Tuesday, it was the top free app in both Apple’s U.S. and Canadian App Stores — its highest ranking in its 30-year history. The company said in a press release that it was not renaming the lake because it keeps “historical, familiar names for lakes and gulfs on its maps.”
It added that users can change the name for themselves using a tool it built in 2025, after Trump ordered the Gulf of Mexico be renamed the Gulf of America. “We took the same approach we did with the Gulf of Mexico: be part of the conversation, and give people an app that keeps the names they’re familiar with,” said Doug Berger, general manager of MapQuest.
The uptick in downloads comes as Google Maps changed the name of the lake for its U.S. users — a decision Google said followed its practice of using names given by the U.S. Geographic Names Information System. People in Canada will continue to see Lake Ontario on its maps, the company said in a statement Saturday.
Trump said last week he decided to change the name of the lake, situated between New York and Canada, because “Canada has been ripping us off for a long time on trade, very sadly.”
It was unclear if Apple, a competitor of Google Maps, also planned to relabel the lake on its maps app, though it has changed Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America for U.S. users. U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Sunday that Trump asked Apple to follow his order.
“I know that the president reached out to Apple directly,” he told Fox Business’s “Mornings with Maria” program, “so I’m sure we may be seeing that change coming up soon to Lake America.”
After trade talks between the two countries collapsed in August, Trump announced 50 percent tariffs on about $20 billion in Canadian goods, including dairy products, whisky and clothing. Canada countered with tariffs of up to 50 percent on hundreds of American goods, set to take effect on Sept. 8.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who has for days traded insults with Trump, sought to ease tensions on Sunday, telling ABC News program “This Week” it was crucial for the American and Canadian economies that the countries strike a trade deal. “We’re allies. We’re best friends. Our trading is so integrated,” he said.
The post Thanks to Lake Ontario, MapQuest is popular all over again appeared first on Washington Post.
