Daijiworld Media Network - Washington

Washington, Oct 23: US President Donald Trump has claimed that he once considered renaming the Atlantic Ocean as “Trump Ocean” on digital maps but dropped the idea after Google CEO Sundar Pichai reportedly opposed the proposal.

Recalling his conversation with Pichai during a campaign rally in Dalton, Georgia, Trump said he had approached Google about changing the name displayed on its maps, but the company declined the request.

“I called Google Maps to change the name of the Atlantic Ocean to Trump Ocean. Sundar said, ‘No, no, no,’” Trump said, adding that the company had asked him not to pursue the proposal.

According to Trump, Google representatives explained that renaming an ocean was different from changing the name of other geographical features because oceans extend across several countries.

“He said oceans are different, sir. You know, they cover a lot of countries,” Trump recalled.

Trump later clarified that the suggestion was intended as a joke, adding that it was not among the worst ideas he had proposed.

Earlier this month, Trump had reportedly floated the possibility of renaming either the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean, suggesting names such as “Trump Ocean” or “Ocean of the Americas”. He also argued that the United States should have an ocean named after it and joked about making the change before leaving office.

Trump has previously pursued efforts to rename geographical features. In 2025, he moved to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, a move that triggered diplomatic tensions with Mexico and a dispute with the Associated Press over its terminology.

In August 2026, Trump also reportedly renamed Lake Ontario, which lies between the United States and Canada, as Lake America amid tensions with Canadian leaders over trade and tariffs.

Digital mapping services may use different geographical names depending on the location of users and the naming conventions they follow. Such changes by individual companies do not necessarily mean that a name has been officially recognised internationally.