President Donald Trump said he would “probably pass” on rebranding the Atlantic Ocean after Google CEO Sundar Pichai talked him out of it.
Trump admitted he “seriously looked” at renaming the body of water after either himself or America at a Wednesday rally supporting South Carolina Senate candidate Darline Graham.
“We have a lake, we have a gulf. Now we need a river, and we need an ocean,” he said.
Trump previously renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and Lake Ontario to Lake America. Google Maps updated its labels for U.S.-based users to match the president’s preferences.
But when Trump pressured the tech giant to do the same for the Atlantic Ocean, he said boss Pichai was less willing to comply.
“We seriously looked at the Atlantic Ocean,” Trump said at the rally. “And I called Google Maps, who are really great with the lake... and I spoke to a brilliant guy, Sundar, he heads all of Google, he’s a brilliant guy... you know, they’re still rattled from the Gulf. I said, ‘Sundar, I’m thinking of the Atlantic Ocean. Can you handle it?’
“‘No, no, no, this time I’m not doing it.’ He said, ‘Oceans are different, sir... Please don’t ask us to do that.’ So I’ll probably pass.”
Trump also floated rebranding the Pacific Ocean as the “American Ocean.”
“How do you think Europe would feel? Do you think they’d like that?” he said.
The Pacific Ocean borders North and South America, Asia, and Australia. It does not touch Europe.
The Daily Beast has reached out to Google for comment.
Trump has proposed several other controversial rebrandings.
Last week, Trump called to rename New Mexico “New America” in a Truth Social post.
“The name would add great value and prestige to the State!” he wrote. “Home Values and Incomes would rise, and you would be even prouder while saluting our beautiful American Flag!”
New Mexico’s Democratic Governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, hit back in her own X post.
“New Mexico was New Mexico long before the United States existed and we’ll be New Mexico forevermore,” she said.
Trump also repeatedly suggested renaming the Strait of Hormuz the “Trump Strait.”
