New Delhi: United States President Donald Trump has been on a quest to rename certain geographic landmarks and institutions. The latest in his crusade is the Atlantic Ocean. Trump’s bid to rename it the “American Ocean” has been rejected by Google CEO Sundar Pichai.
Speaking at a rally in South Carolina on 21 October, Trump recalled a conversation with Pichai about the chance on Google Maps.
However, this time his request was declined since the vast body of water touches too many countries for Google to make such a change on its maps.
“‘No, no, no. This time I’m not doing it. Oceans are different, sir. They cover a lot of countries. Please don’t ask us to do that'”, said Trump, recalling Pichai’s response.
Trump suggested that he might drop the idea of renaming the Atlantic Ocean, saying it should keep its original name.
“So I’ll probably pass. Should I pass it? I think let’s keep it the Atlantic Ocean”, he said.
Later, however, he said it would be called the American Ocean and joked that European countries would be happy about the decision.
“We’re going to call it the American Ocean. Europe would be thrilled,” Trump said.
The proposal follows Trump’s earlier executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. He also pushed to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America amid a trade dispute with Canada and signed an executive order requiring US federal agencies to use the new name.
Google complied with Trump’s request and changed the names for US users. The decision drew criticism from Mexico, Canada, as well as social media users.
On Google Maps, the locations appear as “Gulf of America” and “Lake America” for US users, while the original names are displayed in parentheses in search results. Users in Mexico and Canada continue to see the original names.
Trump has also previously suggested renaming the Strait of Hormuz after himself.
“Should we change the name Hormuz Strait to TRUMP STRAIT??? Like America itself, it would be ‘hotter’ than ever before,” he wrote on Truth Social, following the US-Iran conflict.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)