President Trump disclosed during a political rally in South Carolina that Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai personally talked him out of renaming the Atlantic Ocean. Speaking at Clemson University to drum up support for Senator Darline Graham ahead of the midterm elections, Trump detailed his administration’s ongoing focus on renaming prominent geographic features.
Trump pointed to prior executive orders that sought to rename Lake Ontario and the Gulf of Mexico to Lake America and the Gulf of America, respectively. Speaking to the crowd, the president suggested an ambition to expand his renaming campaign across additional waterways. “We have a lake, we have a gulf. Now we need a river, and we need an ocean,” he stated.
According to Trump, he seriously considered rebranding the Atlantic Ocean and decided to consult directly with Google’s chief executive regarding how digital maps would reflect the change. Despite Google having adjusted the designation of the Gulf of Mexico on its mapping services in certain regions, Pichai resisted altering the Atlantic. Recounting the conversation, Trump quoted the tech executive as saying, “No, no, no, this time I’m not doing it. Oceans are different, sir. They cover really a lot of countries. Please don’t ask us to do that.” Trump added that in light of those objections, he would likely pass on the Atlantic.
Even after dropping the idea of renaming the Atlantic, Trump floated alternative proposals to the audience. He mused about renaming the Pacific Ocean to the American Ocean, posing a rhetorical question to supporters about how Europe might react to the shift, though the European continent borders the Atlantic rather than the Pacific.
The administration’s geographical renamings have already drawn significant international friction and legal challenges. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney criticized the effort to rename Lake Ontario, affirming that Canada would continue using the traditional designation. “We know that the United States is changing. Their trade relations, their foreign policy, their national monuments, their hydronyms,” Carney said. “Canadian women and men also know that things must be called by their name, and this lake is called Lake Ontario — today and forever.”
Domestically, the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico prompted the Associated Press to file a lawsuit against Trump administration officials after the news organization was barred from press events over its refusal to adopt the Gulf of America nomenclature.
Beyond lakes, gulfs, and oceans, Trump has floated further name changes, including designating the Strait of Hormuz—a crucial oil and liquefied natural gas trade route central to the U.S. conflict with Iran—as the “Trump Strait.” However, he noted that he would not rename New York’s Hudson River, praising the historical explorer Henry Hudson by remarking that he “did a good job of setting up that sucker a long time ago.” Google was contacted for comment regarding the discussions.
