Trey Parker and Matt Stone published a statement Tuesday that treats corporate compliance with a presidential directive as a punchline. The South Park co-creators announced on X that they were renaming their show "South America" to honor what they called the "bravery and patriotism" of Apple and Google, both of which updated their maps to display Lake Ontario as Lake America after President Trump signed an executive order redesignating the lake. The rename the maps now show is documented fact, which is the point.
The statement thanked parent company Paramount as well, labeling it "a Skydance Capitulation." The dig is specific. Paramount Global signed a $1.5 billion deal to stream South Park on Paramount+ in 2025, the same year the show's 27th season premiere depicted Trump in bed with Satan while referencing an alleged Jeffrey Epstein cover-up. That episode also targeted Trump's settlement with CBS, a Paramount property. Parker and Stone have previously criticized the Skydance-Paramount merger publicly and said the deal delayed a new season.
Fox Business confirmed that Apple Maps and Google Maps both updated their displays to read "Lake America" after Trump signed the order. Google said U.S. users would see the new name, Canadian users would continue to see "Lake Ontario," and users in other countries would see both. Apple followed a comparable regional approach. Both companies used the same framework when Trump renamed the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America in 2025.
The counterargument here belongs to Apple and Google, even if they have not made it. They are not editorializing on a political dispute. They are applying a presidential executive order within U.S. jurisdiction and preserving local nomenclature for users outside it, the same method they used on the Gulf of America change. That is a narrower act than the word "capitulation" implies.
On balance, the statement targets two things: the executive order and the willingness of major companies to implement it quickly. The joke announcement came after South Park won an Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program for its 27th season. The read-through is that a $1.5 billion Paramount deal has not shifted what Parker and Stone are willing to say.