How Google's Sundar Pichai Vetoed Trump's Bid To Rename Atlantic Ocean

He mused that he'll "probably pass" the idea of renaming the Atlantic Ocean before turning to the Pacific Ocean and said, "We're going to call it the American Ocean. How do you think Europe would fit?"

22 Oct 2026, 09:36 · NDTV

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US President Trump discussed renaming the Atlantic Ocean to Trump Ocean with Google CEO Sundar Pichai
Pichai reportedly declined, saying oceans cover many countries and renaming would be difficult
Trump proposed renaming the Pacific Ocean the American Ocean and questioned Europe's fit

Can a country legally change an ocean's name?
Washington:

US President Donald Trump, who earlier this month floated the idea of renaming the 'Atlantic Ocean' to 'Trump Ocean', has talked about how Google CEO Sundar Pichai vetoed the idea. Trump said he spoke to the Indian-American CEO about his 'name change' plan on Google Maps but was told that oceans were different because they "cover a lot of countries".

Speaking at a midterm rally in South Carolina, Trump said, "So we seriously looked at the Atlantic Ocean, and I called Google Maps, who were really great with the lake."

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"And I spoke to a brilliant guy, Sundar. He heads all of Google. He's a brilliant guy. Sergei and Sundar, totally brilliant guys," he said, referring to Google co-founder Sergey Brin and CEO Pichai. "And, you know, they're still rattled from the Gulf."

"And I said, Sundar, I'm thinking of the Atlantic Ocean. Can you handle it?" Trump said, recounting that Pichai replied, "Ocean's a difference, sir. You know, they cover a lot of... They cover really a lot of countries. Please don't ask us to do that."

He mused that he'll "probably pass" the idea of renaming the Atlantic Ocean before turning to the Pacific Ocean and said, "We're going to call it the American Ocean. How do you think Europe would fit?"

The US leader claimed that the only water bodies he considered oceans were the Atlantic and the Pacific. "I'm not going to put either Trump or America in any other ocean, but these two," he said.

He also talked about the war with Iran and his idea of renaming the Strait of Hormuz. "We have a blockade on the Trump Strait. I call it the Trump Strait. How do you think the Arabs would like to be calling it?"

"I mean, we changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico. Why can't we change this?" he added.

The Strait of Hormuz, through which a large share of the world's seaborne oil passes, has been at the centre of US-Iran tensions. Trump told the rally that the US had "obliterated Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity with Operation Midnight Hammer" and "Operation Epic Fury", and that "Iran will never have a nuclear weapon". He also said oil prices would "soon plummet."

Trump renamed the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America by executive order shortly after taking office in January 2025, and Google Maps began displaying the new name for US users weeks later. He told the rally he had also recently renamed a lake "Lake America".

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