'This time I’m not doing it': Trump reveals Google CEO refused his Atlantic Ocean renaming idea

US President Donald Trump revealed he discussed the idea of renaming the Atlantic Ocean on Google Maps with Google CEO Sundar Pichai; however, the company showed little enthusiasm for the idea. Trump's remark came while addressing a rally in South Carolina on October 21, where he also joked about rebranding the Pacific Ocean as the “American Ocean” and mused over how European leaders might react to such a move.

Trump said he had weighed renaming the Atlantic Ocean but ultimately decided to discuss the idea after speaking to Pichai. He also referred to a previous decision by Google to display the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America for US-based Google Maps users. While addressing the rally, Trump recounted his conversation with Pichai, calling him a “brilliant guy”, about the proposal.

“And I said, Sundar, I’m thinking of the Atlantic Ocean. Can you handle it?” Trump said. In response, Pichai said, “No, no, no. This time I’m not doing it. Oceans are different, sir. You know, they cover a lot of… They cover really a lot of countries. Please don’t ask us to do that.”

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Trump mentions Google co-founder Sergey Brin

While appreciating the company's leadership, Trump also mentioned Google co-founder Sergey Brin. “So we seriously looked at the Atlantic Ocean, and I called Google Maps, who were really great with the lake,” Trump said to supporters at Clemson. “And I spoke to a brilliant guy, Sundar. He heads all of Google. He’s a brilliant guy. Sergey and Sundar, totally brilliant guys,” he said, apparently referring to Google co-founder Sergey Brin. “And, you know, they’re still rattled from the Gulf.”

The US President then indicated he might abandon the proposal to rename the Atlantic Ocean. “So I’ll probably pass. Should I pass? I think let’s keep it the Atlantic Ocean, right?” Trump said. He did, however, raise the idea of renaming the Pacific Ocean, asking the audience how Europe might react to such a move.

“We’re going to call it the American Ocean. How do you think Europe would fit?” he said. Trump added that he only favoured the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and had no intention of attaching his name or his country’s name to any other body of water.