Key Takeaways
- Donald Trump floated renaming the Atlantic or Pacific as “Trump Ocean” or “Ocean of the Americas” during an Oct. 10 rally in Clarksville, Tennessee.
- Trump said he would leave the Hudson River and Mississippi River unchanged, praising Henry Hudson and noting his wide electoral margin in Mississippi.
- The idea follows his moves to create the “Gulf of America,” restore Mount McKinley, and rename Lake Ontario “Lake America,” though he has not acted on the ocean proposal.
President Donald Trump’s renaming spree sees him eyeing oceans next.
Speaking at a rally in Clarksville, Tennessee, on Oct. 10, he told the crowd that his collection of renamed waters is missing something big.
"We've got the gulf. We've got a beautiful lake," Trump said, before adding, "Now, somebody said, ‘You need a river. We need a river.’ We need an ocean."
Then he launched into his pitch: "So, I was thinking of either the Atlantic or the Pacific. We call it Trump Ocean or Ocean of the Americas, something like that," he said.
Trump had traveled to Tennessee to campaign for local Republican candidates ahead of the midterms, and he danced on his way out of F&M Bank Arena.
He also named two waterways he plans to leave alone. The Hudson River, named for explorer Henry Hudson, gets a pass because, as Trump put it, "He did a good job of setting up that sucker a long time ago."
The other exemption was political. "Now, I'm not changing the name of the Mississippi. I love Mississippi. We won that state by so much," he said.
On Jan. 20, President Trump signed Executive Order 14172, "Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness," which converted the Gulf of Mexico into the "Gulf of America" and reinstated Mount McKinley over Denali. In August, he renamed Lake Ontario "Lake America" during a trade fight with Canada, and in September he floated turning New Mexico into "New America" on Truth Social.
