This article was created with the assistance of artificial intelligence (Al)
President Donald Trump claimed Wednesday that Google rejected his suggestion to rename the Atlantic Ocean after himself or the United States.
Speaking at a rally in South Carolina, Trump said he contacted Google CEO Sundar Pichai to ask whether the company could handle his latest naming proposal. Trump said he considered renaming either the Atlantic Ocean or the Pacific Ocean, but ultimately focused on the Atlantic.
“I only like two oceans: the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean,” Trump said. “I’m not going to put either Trump or America on any other ocean but these two.” Trump then recounted what he described as a conversation with Pichai. “I called Google Maps, who were really great with the lake,” he said, referring to his earlier push to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America. “They’re still rattled from the Gulf. I said: ‘Sundar, I’m thinking of the Atlantic Ocean.’”
According to Trump, Pichai rejected the idea, explaining that oceans are different from smaller bodies of water because they span multiple countries.
“No, no, no. This time I’m not doing it,” Trump quoted Pichai as saying. “Oceans are different, sir. They cover … a lot of countries. Please don’t ask us to do that.”
Trump said he would probably abandon the proposal.
“So I’ll probably pass. Should I pass it?” he asked the crowd. “I think let’s keep it the Atlantic Ocean.”
The remarks follow Trump’s efforts to change the names of several geographic features. He previously signed an executive order directing federal agencies to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. He also pushed for Lake Ontario to be called Lake America during a trade dispute with Canada.
Google has previously adopted Trump’s preferred names for U.S. users. On Google Maps, the locations appear as “Gulf of America” and “Lake America,” while search results show the new terms alongside the original names in parentheses. Users in Mexico and Canada continue to see the traditional names.
The renaming efforts have generated criticism from officials and residents in both Mexico and Canada, where the original geographic names remain in use.
Trump has also floated the possibility of renaming the Strait of Hormuz after himself. Last month, amid the ongoing U.S. conflict with Iran, he wrote on Truth Social: “Should we change the name Hormuz Strait to TRUMP STRAIT??? Like America itself, it would be ‘hotter’ than ever before!”
Google has not publicly commented on Trump’s account of the alleged conversation with Pichai.