Trump wanted to rename the Atlantic, Google firmly refused
After the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Ontario, US President Donald Trump has apparently set his sights on the Atlantic. He wanted to have the ocean renamed in map services. But the Google CEO rejected this, according to the president’s statements.
Trump planning for Google Maps
US President Donald Trump said he wanted to rename the Atlantic Ocean during a speech in South Carolina on Wednesday. To do this, he contacted Sundar Pichai, the CEO of search engine operator Google, directly. The president’s goal was to have a new name displayed in the map service Google Maps, which is widely used around the world. The background to the request is previous controversial name changes that the President had already issued by decree on his first day after returning to office and last August. The Gulf of Mexico was renamed the Gulf of America and Lake Ontario was renamed Lake America amid a trade dispute with Canada.
Pichai refuses to adapt
As the Washington Post reports, Trump told his supporters about a direct phone call with Pichai. Accordingly, the US President asked whether Google could change the name of the Atlantic on the maps. However, the Google boss immediately rejected the request. He is said to have pointed out that oceans are different because they border many different countries. According to the statements, Pichai expressly asked him not to entrust the company with the task. In the past, Google and Apple had adopted the names prescribed by Trump for US users. Users in Mexico and Canada continue to see the original names on the maps, while in the rest of the world a combination of both variants is displayed.
Trump indicated that he would likely refrain from officially changing the Atlantic’s name given the Google CEO’s reaction. However, he emphasized that after a lake and a gulf, a river and an ocean were now missing from his list. That’s why the president toyed with the idea of renaming the Pacific Ocean the American Ocean instead.
He had previously brought up Trump Ocean as a possible alternative for one of the bodies of water. In addition to the oceans, Trump has also recently set his sights on a state, calling on New Mexico to rename itself New America. There is currently no official confirmation from Google of the alleged phone call between the President and Pichai.
