President Donald Trump says the United States has a gulf and now a lake. Next on his wish list: an ocean.
Speaking at a rally in Clarksville, Tennessee, on Oct. 10, Trump suggested renaming either the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean, floating names such as "Trump Ocean" and "Ocean of the Americas."
The comments are the latest example of Trump's push to rebrand prominent geographic landmarks. After renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America and ordering Lake Ontario renamed Lake America, Trump said the U.S. should also have "an ocean" before he leaves office.
"We've got the gulf. We've got a beautiful lake," Trump told supporters. "Now, somebody said, 'You need a river. We need a river.' We need an ocean."
Trump then proposed either "Trump Ocean"
or "Ocean of the Americas" as possible names.
"No, we have to," he said. "We should have, before I get out, we should have an ocean and we need a great river."
The president later said he has no plans to rename either the Hudson River or the Mississippi River.
"I don't want to change the name of the Hudson River," Trump said, before adding that he was "not changing the name of the Mississippi."
Could Trump rename an ocean?
A president can direct how U.S. government agencies refer to geographic features through executive action. But any name change would generally apply only to federal government usage and would not be binding internationally.
That's especially true for the Atlantic and Pacific, which border multiple countries and have long-established names recognized around the world.
There is no international authority that could require other countries to adopt a new U.S.-designated name.
A growing list of Trump renamings
The ocean proposal follows several high-profile name changes undertaken during Trump's presidency.
In August, Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America. The order instructed the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to formalize the change, and the National Weather Service began implementing the new name in maps, forecasts and other products in September.
While signing that order, Trump hinted that oceans could be next.
"If you think about it, we have a gulf, and we have a lake, now all we need is an ocean," Trump said at the time. "So maybe we'll have to change the name of the Atlantic and/or the Pacific."
The administration previously renamed theGulf of Mexico the Gulf of America for official U.S. government use.
Trump has also restored Fort Liberty's former name, Fort Bragg, and changed the nation's highest peak from Denali back to Mount McKinley.
Contributing: Joey Garrison, Kinsey Crowley, Fernando Cervantes Jr. / USA TODAY
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump suggests renaming Atlantic or Pacific Ocean
