Trump says Google CEO refused his request to rename the Atlantic Ocean

Speaking at a rally in South Carolina on October 21, Trump said he had contacted Google after the company adopted his administration's new names for the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Ontario on its maps for US users, The Washington Post reported.

"We have a lake and we have a gulf, now we need a river and we need an ocean," Trump told supporters.

He said he asked Pichai whether Google could handle renaming the Atlantic Ocean.

"No, no, no. This time, I'm not doing it," Trump quoted Pichai as saying. According to Trump's account, the Google chief explained that oceans were different because they bordered many countries.

Google has not confirmed that the conversation took place and did not immediately respond to The Washington Post's request for comment.

Trump said he would "probably pass" on renaming the Atlantic following the purported exchange, but suggested the Pacific Ocean could instead become the "American Ocean."

Earlier in October, Trump floated the idea of naming an ocean after himself, suggesting either "Trump Ocean" or "Ocean of the Americas."

The president has previously used executive orders to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America and Lake Ontario as Lake America. Google and other mapping services have generally adopted those changes for users in the United States.