Donald Trump suggested renaming The Atlantic Ocean or the Pacific Ocean during a rally in Tennessee on Saturday. He floated the idea as part of the same pattern of name changes he has already pushed on other geographic features.
Trump Ocean or Ocean of the Americans
Trump said, "We could call it Trump Ocean or Ocean of the Americans. Something like that... We have to. We should have before I get out." The line put The Atlantic directly in play, even though he did not settle on one name.
The suggestion came after Trump said last year that he renamed the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. In August, he said he renamed Lake Ontario as Lake America. Those earlier moves framed Saturday’s remarks as more than a passing aside.
Hudson River And Mississippi River
Trump also drew a line between the oceans and two rivers. He said he would not change the name of the Hudson River and said it is named for explorer Henry Hudson. "He did a good job of setting up that sucker a long time ago," Trump said.
He said he would not change the name of the Mississippi River either. "Now, I’m not changing the name of the Mississippi. I love Mississippi. We won that state by so much," he said. That left The Atlantic and the Pacific as the only waters he raised for possible renaming in the rally remarks.
Executive Power Over Names
The president can use executive authority to rename bodies of water and other geographic features, which gives the idea a route beyond rally talk. For readers and map users, the practical question is whether that authority gets used again on a major ocean name.
Whether Trump will actually take any action to rename The Atlantic Ocean or the Pacific Ocean is not answered by the remarks themselves. For now, he has put both oceans on the table while exempting the Hudson River and the Mississippi River from change.
