President Donald Trump proposed expanding his efforts to rename geographic features across the United States, suggesting on Saturday at a rally in Clarksville, Tennessee, that one of the oceans separating the Americas could be rebranded as the "Ocean of the Americas" or even the "Trump Ocean."
During his remarks, Trump referred to previous actions in which he renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and Lake Ontario to Lake America, moves that have drawn criticism and sparked diplomatic tensions with Mexico and Canada respectively. He explained that following those changes, there was now a perceived need to rename a major river and an ocean to further emphasize American identity.
“We’ve got the gulf. We’ve got a beautiful lake,” Trump said. “Now, somebody said, you need a river … We need a river. We need an ocean.” He added, somewhat lightly, that the ocean’s new name could honor him, eliciting laughter and applause from the audience.
Trump also addressed names he would not change, citing the Hudson River and the Mississippi River. Regarding the Hudson River, which runs through New York, Trump praised explorer Henry Hudson for “setting up that sucker a long time ago” and indicated no plans to alter its name. He also expressed a particular fondness for Tennessee and Mississippi, emphasizing his electoral successes in those states and stating he intends to keep the Mississippi River’s name intact.
In addition to the renaming of bodies of water, Trump referenced a prior suggestion to rename the state of New Mexico as "New America," a proposal that would require approval from state officials and Congress. He indicated that the decision would ultimately be left to the residents of New Mexico and indicated he would not actively pursue the change but noted some local support for the idea.
Trump’s practice of unilaterally changing geographic names leverages executive authority, a move largely symbolic but with diplomatic and cultural repercussions. While the president’s renaming of the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Ontario has been recognized by some private companies managing online maps, it has faced pushback from Mexican and Canadian governments and media organizations, which have largely declined to adopt the new designations.
The president’s recent comments reflect a continuation of his broader agenda aimed at reshaping national symbols in ways that emphasize American identity and his own political brand ahead of the upcoming election cycle.