Trump said at a campaign rally in Georgia that he proposed renaming the Atlantic or the Pacific "Trump Ocean" and that Google's representatives refused. The articles say it was unclear whether the exchange happened as described.
Trump renamed the Gulf of Mexico "Gulf of America" by decree in 2025, and in August 2026 the lake on the Canadian border became "Lake America". Google Maps applied both changes for users in the United States.
US President Donald Trump says he tried to give an ocean his own name and was turned down by Google. He made the claim at a campaign rally in the state of Georgia, where his supporters reacted enthusiastically to the account. According to Trump, he raised the idea in a conversation with representatives of the internet company, proposing that the Atlantic or the Pacific be renamed "Trump Ocean". He said the company's people responded with irritation and told him they would no longer go along with that kind of request. The description of the exchange comes from Trump himself, and it was initially unclear whether the conversation happened as he described it.
Trump told the rally that he had also sent Google a map labelled "Trump Ocean". According to him, the company's representatives refused, arguing that oceans are different because they stretch across many countries. Trump then said he had meant the proposal only as a joke, "this time". He added that it was "not the worst idea" he had ever had. His own words therefore combine a joke with a hint that the idea was not entirely bad.
Trump has already changed two names on the map. In 2025 he renamed the Gulf of Mexico "Gulf of America" by decree. In August 2026 the lake on the border with Canada, Lake Ontario, followed under the name "Lake America". Google Maps applied both changes for users in the United States. The timeline below lists both renamings.
Trump has repeatedly suggested that he would like to rename an ocean, and his most recent remark concerned a different body of water. He flirted with calling the Strait of Hormuz the "Trump Strait". The strait runs between the Iranian and Omani coasts and connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. The remark appears aimed mainly at provoking Iran, which the articles describe as a wartime adversary.
Several elements of the story rest on Trump's word alone. It is not established whether the meeting with Google representatives took place, or whether the company rejected a map labelled "Trump Ocean". Trump's claim that he was joking appeared in the same speech as his suggestion that the idea was not a bad one, so his intent remains unclear. The proposal exists so far only in Trump's account.
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Speaking at a campaign rally in Georgia, Trump said he had proposed renaming the Atlantic or the Pacific "Trump Ocean" and that Google's representatives refused. Whether the exchange happened as he described it was unclear at first.
AI text based on reports by RP Online, der Standard, Der Tagesspiegel and other publishers. Published .