Donald Trump has suggested the US could rename the Atlantic the American Ocean. The President of the United States told supporters at a Republican rally in Mississippi that "Europe will be thrilled" by the idea.
He said the US needs an ocean and a river to match the gulf and lake he already renamed. Mr Trump issued an executive order in January 2025 to rename the Gulf of Mexico the "Gulf of America". In August, he signed another order to turn Lake Ontario into "Lake America".
Doubling Down on the Rename
Mr Trump doubled down on renaming the Atlantic at the gathering on Monday after telling a rally in South Carolina last week that Google rejected his invitation to rename the ocean after either America or himself.
The US leader told rally-goers he had even gone so far as to call Google boss Sundar Pichai to ask if the chief exec would take up his proposed name change.
He told supporters: "I only like two oceans: the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. I'm not going to put either Trump or America on any other ocean but these two.
"So we seriously looked at the Atlantic Ocean and I called Google Maps, who were really great with the lake - they're still rattled from the Gulf. I said: 'Sundar, I'm thinking of the Atlantic Ocean'."
Google's Response
Mr Trump said Mr Pichai told him he was not going to do it and appealed to the president not to ask Google to.
The tech giant changed the name from Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America for users in the US, maintaining it did so under a longstanding approach of adhering to name changes when government sources update them.
Users of Google Maps outside the United States see the sea labelled "Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America".
Rally Trail Ahead of Mid-Terms
Mr Trump has held a series of rallies in support of Republican candidates ahead of the mid-term elections on Tuesday, November 3.
The president was in Mississippi to support Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, who faces a fierce challenge from Democrat underdog Scott Colom in a state which has traditionally been a Republican stronghold.
