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Google CEO Sundar Pichai reportedly turned down a request to rename the Atlantic Ocean, according to President Donald Trump, who described the phone call at a rally in South Carolina on Wednesday. Google, however, has not confirmed the conversation.
At the rally, Trump said the country now has a lake and a gulf with new names, and “now we need a river and we need an ocean.” He said he called Google Maps, which he described as great on the earlier changes, and asked Pichai whether Google could handle the Atlantic.
According to Trump, Pichai said he wasn’t doing it this time and that oceans are different because they border many countries. The Washington Post also reported a shorter version of the reply: “Please don’t ask us to do that.” So far, this account comes only from Trump.
Which names Google Maps has already changed
The Gulf of Mexico became the Gulf of America on Google Maps for U.S. users after the administration pushed for the change in early 2025. Lake Ontario followed after an order signed in late August 2026. Android Authority reports that Google went along with both.
The Washington Post says Google and other private map companies have generally accepted these changes for U.S. users. Not everyone has gone along, though. MapQuest has rejected the renames, which Android Authority says helped it stand out.
Why Google says it follows the GNIS for U.S. place names
Google has said it follows the Geographic Names Information System, known as GNIS, which is the U.S. government’s official database of place names. That helps explain why the earlier changes showed up on Google Maps once the government made them official.
The GNIS still lists the Atlantic Ocean by that name. If it changes, it is unclear what Google would do. For everyday Android users, the practical point is simple. The label on your screen follows an official list, and that list has not changed for the Atlantic.
What Trump said about the Pacific Ocean
Trump said he would “probably pass” on the Atlantic after the call, but added that he could rename the Pacific “the American Ocean” instead. No official action has been announced for either ocean.
For now, the Atlantic on your Google Maps screen is still the Atlantic. Whether it stays that way depends on a government database and a phone call nobody else has confirmed.
