While at a campaign rally in Tennessee, Donald Trump said that the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean should be renamed. This development follows a series of executive actions that have already altered the official names of Lake Ontario and the Gulf of Mexico.
According to PEOPLE, the president spoke at length about his vision for these geographic renames while visiting Clarksville: “We’ve got the Gulf, we’ve got a beautiful lake, and now someone said, ‘You need a river.’ We need a river, we need an ocean. So, I was thinking of either the Atlantic or the Pacific.”
He even offered a glimpse into the potential new branding, stating, “We call it ‘Trump Ocean’ or ‘Ocean of the Americas.’ Something like that.” The Washington Post noted that the president received laughter and applause. Per PEOPLE, he had already floated the idea of renaming one of the oceans on August 27th. As he revisited the topic, he told his supporters, “We have to. We should have before I get out.”
Trump noted that two rivers would keep their names
According to the outlets, Trump’s use of his executive authority to rename Lake Ontario and the Gulf of Mexico drew attention both domestically and internationally. In August, he famously used a marker to cross out the name of Lake Ontario on a map.
In a video shared on TikTok, he told his audience, “We’re gonna make a little change. We’re gonna call it something different than Lake Ontario. We’re gonna call it Lake America. And all it takes is a good pen and some intelligence.” This move occurred during a period of trade tensions with Canada. In the video, he celebrated the change by saying, “Now we have a lake, and now we have a gulf. Enjoy Lake America.”
Earlier, in January 2025, the president reportedly renamed the Gulf of Mexico: “We’re going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Which has a beautiful ring. That covers a lot of territory. The Gulf of America, what a beautiful name. And it’s appropriate. It’s appropriate.”
At the rally, Trump told his supporters, “Before I get out, I think we should have an ocean. And we need a great river.” However, he was quick to indicate that some rivers would be safe: “I don’t wanna change the name of the Hudson River.”
The Hudson River, named for the explorer Henry Hudson, runs through the president’s home state of New York, and Trump noted, “He did a good job of setting up that sucker a long time ago.” Trump also mentioned that he would not be altering the name of the Mississippi River, saying, “I love Mississippi, we won that state by so much.”
PEOPLE reported that the legal reality of these changes is nuanced. While the U.S. government has the authority to adjust landmark names on domestic maps, the Associated Press has pointed out that Trump cannot force other nations or international organizations to adopt these new titles. Despite these international limitations, private companies that manage online mapping services, like Google, have generally chosen to accept the president’s new names.
Beyond water bodies, the president has also looked at state boundaries. The Post noted that last month, he suggested renaming New Mexico to “New America.” However, he acknowledged that the change would likely require cooperation from the state and Congress. So, Trump said that he would leave the decision “up to” the residents of the state. “I’m not going to push it, but a lot of people are liking it a lot,” he said in a video endorsing a congressional candidate.
This ongoing effort to rename landmarks fits into a broader pattern of the current administration’s approach to public symbols. According to PEOPLE, Trump previously reverted the name of the country’s tallest mountain, Mount Denali, back to its former title of Mount McKinley. This reversed a 2015 decision by the Obama administration to honor the Alaskan Native population.
Published: Oct 12, 2026 06:18 am