During a rally at Clemson University in South Carolina, Donald Trump revealed that he contacted Google CEO Sundar Pichai to discuss renaming the Atlantic Ocean to the "American Ocean" on Google Maps. According to Trump, Pichai rejected the proposal, arguing that oceans span multiple countries and asking him not to pursue the change. Trump stated that he would likely pass on the idea following the conversation.
The administration previously signed executive orders changing the names of the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America" and Lake Ontario to "Lake America." Google previously defended its compliance with those changes by pointing to official government sources, specifically the U.S. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), stating that the platform updates maps to reflect official federal designations. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum also noted that the administration previously spoke with Apple regarding the Lake America designation, which was subsequently updated on Apple Maps.
Google already uses localized boundaries to display different names for the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Ontario depending on a user's geographic location. Users in the United States see the administration's preferred names, while users in Mexico and Canada view the traditional titles, and international users see both variants. Representatives from Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding communications with the administration about the Atlantic Ocean.
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