The president of the United States has the legal authority to rename the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

The strongest evidence in the provided sources concerns the 2025 renaming of the Gulf of Mexico. The Associated Press and The Atlantic describe presidential authority to change federal geographic names used within the United States, particularly for a feature treated as lying solely within U.S. Territory. That authority supports changes in U.S. Government usage, not a universal power over international geographic names.theatlantic.comtheatlantic.comThe ‘Gulf of America’ Is the Wrong Fight to Pickap.orgap.orgAP style guidance on Gulf of Mexico, Mount McKinley+1 more

The Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean are international bodies of water extending far beyond U.S. Territory. A Politics Stack Exchange analysis specifically distinguishes a president's authority over U.S. Federal naming from the ability to rename an international body of water, noting that such a change would have international implications and could require diplomatic discussions. Because the claim says the president has the legal authority to rename both oceans without limiting the statement to U.S. Government documents, it creates a materially broader impression than the evidence supports.politics.stackexchange.compolitics.stackexchange.comunited states - Does the US President have authority to rename a geographic... The documented Gulf of America example therefore does not establish the broader claim. It shows that President Donald Trump can order a name change for federal use in the United States, while other countries, international organizations, mapmakers, and private entities are not automatically required to adopt that terminology. The available sources do not identify a legal authority allowing a U.S. President to impose new names for the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans internationally.ap.orgap.orgGulf of Whatnow? Trump's geographic renaming plans leave mapmakers pondering...+2 more