During a rally on Saturday, October 17th, in Highland Heights, Kentucky, Donald Trump bragged about how much more powerful and influential he was during his second term. While listing off his accomplishments, he mentioned his decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Ontario.
“This is a much more powerful term. I can do stuff that’s unbelievable … I called Google, Google Maps. See, Google wouldn’t have taken my call in the first term. Now they kiss my ass.”
Trump seems to be implying that he convinced Google to reflect the name change personally. That would seem to contradict Google’s statement on the matter, in which it said that it simply reflects “official government sources, which is GNIS for the US … These updates follow our long-standing policy for bodies of water with names that vary from country to country.”
Throughout his second term, however, Silicon Valley — including Google and its CEO Sundar Pichai — has gone out of its way to try and ingratiate itself with President Trump, lavishing him with gifts, compliments, and donations to his pet projects. Google did not immediately return a request for comment.