President Donald Trump said at a rally in South Carolina on Wednesday that he called Google CEO Sundar Pichai to ask whether Google Maps could change the name of the Atlantic Ocean. The account comes from Trump alone, and the company has not confirmed it.
According to Trump, he had considered putting either "Trump" or "America" on the Atlantic or the Pacific, and asked Pichai whether the mapping service could "handle" such a change. Pichai's reported answer was, "Please don't ask us to do that."
Trump described the Google chief as drawing a firm line this time. He quoted Pichai as saying, "No, no, no, this time I'm not doing it," and adding, "Oceans are different, sir." The reason given, per Trump, was that oceans "cover a lot of countries."
That rationale sits awkwardly with Google's earlier changes. The Gulf of Mexico borders three countries and Lake Ontario borders two, yet both have been relabeled in the service for US users.
Trump said he would "probably pass" on renaming the Atlantic. He also raised the idea of calling the Pacific Ocean "the American Ocean" instead.
Google's earlier concessions were not accidental. In early 2025, following an executive order from Trump, it began showing the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America" for users in the United States. This August, it made a similar change to Lake Ontario, which now appears as "Lake America" for US users. Apple followed Google's lead in both cases.
The episode has been read against a wider pattern of technology companies accommodating the administration at a time when tariff exemptions, regulatory decisions and government contracts are at stake for the industry.
The rally remarks came amid a difficult economic and political backdrop. According to AAA, gasoline averages $4.27 a gallon and diesel $6.31, and inflation is rising. The war with Iran has now lasted 236 days, even though Trump suggested in March that it could end within four to five weeks. The midterm elections are less than two weeks away.
A request for comment sent to Google had not been answered at the time of the original report.
