We all know what Donald Trump renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America was about. It’s Trump serving up more BS for the corporate media to cover so they don’t talk his failures from the Iran war to this past week’s high inflation report to Friday’s terrible consumer sentiment report. And of course, corporate media being the sheep they are delivered for Trump by spending the weekend talking this topic—when not trying to pit Democrats against each other that is.
But Google did something far worse. They quickly renamed Lake Ontario to Lake America on their maps—at least for users in the United States. So why did Google move so quickly? Simple, they believe it’s good for their bottom line—without any regard for their role in helping Trump impose his fascist agenda.
This is the same Trump who attempted a coup in 2020 and is working to rig the 2026 elections, started an illegal war on a whim, is using his FCC and DOJ to target journalists and is now trying to destroy our longtime ally Canada. Yet Google made a choice to please Trump—and in turn make him appear all powerful when in reality he has horrific approval numbers.
To be clear, there is no legal requirement for Google to rename Lake Ontario on its maps. That is why MapQuest on Saturday publicly rejected Trump’s request. As MapQuest noted on social media, “We’re not changing it.” It also replied to posts about the new name, writing “Nope.” and “Not doing it.”
MapQuest also rejected Trump’s order last year renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. That is why in response to Trump’s new order they mockingly posted a map with Lake Ontario and the text, “Lake Are We Doing This Again?” Of course, MAGA world is irate with MapQuest with even the aspiring fascist prince Erik Trump writing, “Shocking to see you’re still alive.” (Was that a veiled threat?!)
MapQuest wasn’t alone in standing up to the petty tyrant Trump. The International Association for Great Lakes Research (IAGLR) also very publicly announced they will not recognize Trump’s effort to rename Lake Ontario—which it has been known as that for more than 400 years, predating both Canada and the United States.
In their press release, the IAGLR grounded that decision in something else Trump and MAGA hate: Science. They wrote, “As an international scientific organization dedicated to advancing research and understanding of the Great Lakes, IAGLR’s mandate depends on clear, consistent, and scientifically accurate communication about these shared waters.” They added, “The Great Lakes cross political boundaries, and their study and stewardship require cooperation among scientists, institutions, governments, and communities on both sides of the border.”
But not Google. They want to please Trump. After all, they have been working hard to curry favor with Trump since he won in November 2024. Just a month after the election, we saw Google’s chief executive Sundar Pichai and a Google founder, Sergey Brin, travel to Mar-A-Lago to kiss Trump’s ass.
Just weeks later that Google—along with other Big Tech oligarchs seeking to curry favor with Trump—made a $1 million donation to Trump’s inaugural committee. That prompted Senator Liz Warren and other Democrats to send a letter to Google and other big tech executives that donated $1 million each, “We are concerned that your company and other Big Tech donors are using your massive contributions to the inaugural fund to cozy up to the incoming Trump administration in an effort to avoid scrutiny, limit regulation, and buy favor.”
But Google wasn’t done. When Trump wanted less diversity in the workplace so companies would be whiter, Google rolled back DEI programs. They even removed mention of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” from its annual report to the Securities and Exchange Commission and ended hiring goals for representation.
Later in 2025, Google made a $22 million donation to Trump’s ballroom. Yes, in essence a $22 million bribe to Trump to get better treatment.
It worked. Shortly after the ballroom donation, Trump’s Justice Department gave the tech behemoth a green light to acquire the cybersecurity firm Wiz in a $30 billion acquisition.
In addition, Google reversed course on prior ethical stances by dropping its corporate pledge to avoid using artificial intelligence for weapons and surveillance. That opened the door to lucrative Department of Defense contracts favored by the administration.
In other words, changing the name of Lake Ontario is just the latest in a string of Google actions sucking up to the corrupt Trump regime. This is the same type of relationship Vladimir Putin has with the oligarchs in his nation. They do exactly what he says because they can both make more money as well as avoid the wrath of Putin and his government.
For example, Putin recently asked the major business owners in Russia to “voluntarily” make a donation to the state treasury to help the government pay its debts—which have grown with the four plus year Ukrainian war. And of course, the oligarchs agreed because they need to stay on Putin’s good side in order to avoid being investigated by his government, fined or far worse.
Back in the United States, while Google is in full suck up mode, we are seeing potential winds of change. For example, Apple donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural committee and $$ to his ballroom. But as of now, Apple Maps still show the name Lake Ontario. Is this a meaningful change in Apple’s approach to Trump?
Unclear at this time but interestingly just days ago the Wall Street Journal published an article about how Big Tech companies that curried favor with Trump now fear Democrats will investigate them if they win the House and Senate. As the WSJ reported, “Some U.S. companies with close ties to President Trump are taking steps to gain favor with Democrats, worried they will become targets if Republicans lose control of the House.”
They note as an example, “Meta Platforms and others are writing big checks for Democrats ahead of the midterms, according to people familiar with the matter, a counterbalance to the tens of millions they gave to the White House ballroom and Republican initiatives.” In contrast, Elon Musk is going all in to help the GOP hold the House because he fears how Democrats will subpoena him to testify before the nation about his government contracts and actions with DOGE. (Democratic Attorneys General must watch Musk closely in lead up to this election!)
These oligarchs should be concerned that they helped an aspiring fascist like Trump--from normalizing him to funding his vanity projects to helping him implement his anti-democratic agenda. Yet Google doesn’t seem to care. They have made a choice to continue to help Trump. And when Democrats do win the House, they need to make a choice to subpoena Google executives to testify under oath to find out how they benefited by helping Trump’s corrupt goals!
Below is the conversation I had today with subscribers on this corruption and the need to investigate Google. Hope you check it out:
I just had a debate with Google AI. It said it’s wasn’t a partisan issue. I argued it was because they were the only major platform to change the map. It agreed it was partisan
Time to delete your google acct if you have one.