Newly elected US President Donald Trump has surprised the international community with a new controversial announcement. He stated that he wanted to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to ‘Gulf of America’. The reason: the new name is “beautiful and appropriate,” according to Trump. But what does this announcement mean, and can a president even implement it?
The U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN), which is responsible for standardizing geographic names within the U.S. government, could theoretically consider such a change. “But that requires the consent of other countries,” writes the Washington Post.
A current example: Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland removed the term “squaw” from geographic names in 2021. However, these changes only affected US territories. In 2012, US President Barack Obama renamed the highest mountain in the US, Mount McKinley, after its traditional indigenous name: ‘Mount Denali’. Trump announced that he wanted to withdraw this renaming.
Trump received support from Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene. She announced on X (formerly Twitter) that she wanted to introduce a law to change the name of the Golf. “This is important to begin funding the map change for all agencies across the federal government,” Greene said.
Renaming international waters has led to diplomatic conflict in the past. The name ‘Persian Gulf’ officially remained in effect in 2020 after intense debates between Iran and the Arab states, even though Arab countries are allowed to use ‘Arab Gulf’ in their internal communications. A similar name change could cause similar tensions in the case of the Gulf of Mexico. Trump is aware of the potential resistance. Nevertheless, he seems determined to make another statement with this symbolic change. But whether the ‘Gulf of America’ will ever become a reality remains to be seen.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will likely once again comment tongue-in-cheek on Trump’s latest view: the chances of this happening are as high as “a snowball in hell.”
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
