US President Donald Trump has claimed that Google rejected his request to rename the Atlantic Ocean after himself or America, following previous disputes over geographical names.
According to The Guardian, Trump revealed the conversation during a rally in South Carolina on Wednesday, saying he personally contacted Google CEO Sundar Pichai about the proposal.
Trump said he had considered renaming the Atlantic Ocean after previously changing the US government’s names for the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Ontario.
“I only like two oceans: the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. I’m not going to put either Trump or America on any other ocean but these two,” Trump told supporters.
However, the president claimed Pichai refused his latest request because oceans extend across multiple countries.
Trump quoted the Google executive as saying: “Oceans are different, sir. They cover … a lot of countries. Please don’t ask us to do that.”
Following the alleged rejection, Trump appeared to abandon the idea: “I think let’s keep it the Atlantic Ocean.”
Google has not publicly confirmed Trump’s account of the conversation.
The company previously updated Google Maps to display “Gulf of America” and “Lake America” for American users following Trump’s executive orders.
However, users in Mexico and Canada continue to see the original geographical names.
