Trump Atlantic Ocean rename on Google Maps: Google said no, Trump says
Donald Trump's push for a Trump Atlantic Ocean rename on Google Maps went nowhere, he told a South Carolina rally on Wednesday: Google CEO Sundar Pichai declined to make the change, according to Trump's account.
Trump Atlantic Ocean rename on Google Maps: Google said no, Trump says
The call to Pichai
Speaking at the rally, Trump said he had called Pichai to ask whether the company could "handle" his Atlantic Ocean rename proposal, and told him he was thinking of the Atlantic. According to Trump's account, Pichai refused.
"No, no, no. This time I'm not doing it ... Oceans are different, sir. They cover ... a lot of countries."
Trump framed the request narrowly, saying he only likes the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and would not put his name or America's on any other.
- He said he had called Google's CEO, Sundar Pichai, about whether the company could take on the proposal
- He told Pichai he was considering the Atlantic Ocean specifically
- Pichai, in Trump's telling, said oceans are different because they cover many countries
Earlier renames that did go through
The rejected Atlantic request stands apart from Trump's previous geographic renaming moves, which he cited at the rally. These went through executive orders rather than requests to Google, and the results now show up on Maps.
- An executive order renamed the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America
- He also pushed to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America amid a trade feud between the US and Canada, signing an order requiring federal agencies to use the new name
- On Google Maps, the locations are labeled "Gulf of America" and "Lake America" for US users, with search results showing the new names alongside originals in parentheses
- Users in Mexico and Canada continue to see the original names
- The earlier changes drew public criticism including from Mexico and Canada
Strait of Hormuz idea
The Atlantic is not the first waterway Trump has wanted renamed. During the US war with Iran last month, he posted on Truth Social: "Should we change the name Hormuz Strait to TRUMP STRAIT???" The post added that, like America itself, it would be "hotter" than ever before.
Status of the Atlantic proposal
For now the Atlantic idea appears shelved. "So I'll probably pass. Should I pass it?" Trump said, adding: "I think let's keep it the Atlantic Ocean". Google has been approached for comment.
