# Trump floats renaming Atlantic or Pacific Ocean

> At a Tennessee rally, President Trump suggested renaming an ocean in his honor, continuing a pattern of geographic rebranding.
- Title: Trump floats renaming Atlantic or Pacific Ocean · TIME
- Summary: At a Tennessee rally, President Trump suggested renaming an ocean in his honor, continuing a pattern of geographic rebranding. President Trump suggested…
- Keywords: donald trump, geographic renaming, atlantic ocean, pacific ocean, tennessee rally, executive authority, news, world, Trump, floats, renaming, Atlantic
- Source: TIME — https://time.com/article/2026/10/12/trump-atlantic-pacific-ocean-americas-renaming-gulf-mexico-lake-ontario
- Author: Miranda Jeyaretnam
- Published: 2026-10-12T00:00:00+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: donald trump, geographic renaming, atlantic ocean, pacific ocean, tennessee rally, executive authority, news, world
## Trump suggests ocean rename
At a rally in Clarksville, Tennessee on Saturday, President Trump suggested renaming the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean. He proposed calling it Trump Ocean or Ocean of the Americas.

> We call it 'Trump Ocean' or 'Ocean of the Americas,' something like that.
## Oceans span multiple jurisdictions
The Atlantic and Pacific are international bodies of water spanning many countries' jurisdictions and the high seas, making any unilateral renaming complicated.
## Trump's executive power over names
Trump has executive authority to direct U.S. geographic naming authorities to adopt different names for federal government use. Private mapping services like Google Maps and Apple Maps have previously changed labels for U.S. users.
## Trump's renaming track record
In January 2025, Trump signed an order renaming the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America and restoring Mount McKinley as the federal name for Denali. In August, he renamed Lake Ontario to Lake America.

> Everyone thinks I kid. Everybody smiled, 'Oh, that's so funny.' I did it, right? It's done.
## Mexico disputes gulf renaming
Mexico argued the U.S. had no authority to rename the Gulf of Mexico, part of which lies within Mexican jurisdiction. Mexico later sued Google over its use of Gulf of America for U.S. users.
## Canada rejects Lake Ontario rename
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney rejected Trump's August renaming of Lake Ontario to Lake America, saying Canadians would call it Lake Ontario then, now and always.

> then, now and always.
## Trump muses on crowd approval
At Saturday's rally, Trump told the crowd amid applause that he could say the stupidest things and they would clap, reflecting on the affection he receives at his rallies.

> I could say the stupidest things and you'd clap.
## Key takeaway

President Trump suggested renaming the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean as Trump Ocean or Ocean of the Americas at a rally in Clarksville, Tennessee on Saturday.