Saturday, February 15, 2025

Trump to sign executive order renaming Gulf of Mexico

President Donald Trump announced plans to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America in his inauguration speech on Monday. This was just one of several executive orders promised by the president on his first day in office. 

“A short time from now, we will be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America,” President Trump said during his inauguration speech.

Trump had previously stated his intention to rename the body of water in a press conference on Jan. 7. He also suggested he might pursue U.S. control into Greenland, the Panama Canal and Canada.

“We’re going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America,” Trump told reporters. “What a beautiful name. And it’s appropriate. It’s appropriate. And Mexico has to stop allowing millions of people to pour into our country.”

Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum responded by saying that the body of water was internationally recognized as the Gulf of Mexico and that on historical maps, North America was labeled as Mexican America. 

“I mean obviously ‘Gulf of Mexico,’ the name is recognized by the United Nations, an organism of the United Nations. But next, why don’t we call it ‘Mexican America’? It sounds nice, doesn’t it?” Sheinbaum said, pointing to a map from 1607 projected on a screen during her daily press conference on Jan. 8.

Sheinbaum before an early map of Mexico
The president shot back at Trump on Jan. 8, suggesting that the United States be named “Mexican America.” (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro) 

Republican representative from the state of Georgia Marjorie Taylor Greene directed her staff to draft legislation to make the name change so “Gulf of America” could be officially used on federal maps and administrative policy. While the new name could be used at the federal level, other countries would not need to accept it. 

“It’s our gulf. The rightful name is the Gulf of America and it’s what the entire world should refer to it as,” Green said in a press statement.

Can the Gulf of Mexico’s name be changed by President Trump?

The Gulf of Mexico was first shown as the official name on maps used by 16th-century Spanish explorers, prior to the founding of the United States. 

“The international maritime boundary in the Gulf of Mexico shall begin at the center of the mouth of the Rio Grande, wherever it may be located; from there it shall run in a straight line to a fixed point,” the U.S. State Department clarifies in a 1972 Maritime Boundary document.  

The U.S. holds maritime jurisdiction over its part of the Gulf of Mexico and Mexico has jurisdiction over its portion. 

Trump could potentially change the gulf’s name at the federal level as the rules for official geographical name changes are non-existent.   

“Today, there is no formal international agreement or protocol in place for naming maritime areas,” the director of the International Hydrographic Organization John Nyberg told The New York Times.  

However, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names states on its website that it only considers name changes for “compelling” reasons. “Generally,” it adds, “the most important policy regarding names is local use and acceptance.”

With reports from CBS News, The Hill, The New York Times and MVS Noticias

25 COMMENTS

  1. Regardless of the bleatings of moronic Republican, the world is not going to start calling the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, even if trump signs some piece of paper. This seems like an indication of the kind of performative bullying that will pass for “foreign policy” as the fading empire descends into deranged idiocracy.

  2. Arrogant, as is par for the United States, and extremely detrimental. It is the only country that did not teach students the metric system, and to this day expects the world to know how to speak English. Bold and narcissistic.

  3. I believe this may be the first step in trump trying to do in the Gulf of Mexico what China is doing in the South China Sea — asserting authority over the whole thing practically right up to other countries’ shorelines. I’m thinking someone told him about China doing that and instead of thinking it was unlawful territorial expansion, trump thought it was a good idea. So, first step: name it “Gulf of America.” Then trump can circle it with a Sharpie and say “See, it’s ours.”

    I really hope the people in Mexico understand that at least half of USAmericans (and probably most who live in or regularly go to Mexico) deplore any bullying of Mexico. Most of us will be on Mexico’s side in any ginned-up bullying of Mexico by trump, although (as with much of what trump will be doing) there might not be anything we can do to stop it.

  4. This guy really believes the sun shines out of his rear end. While he’s at it, why doesn’t he rename Washington DC Trumpville?!

  5. Obviously there are very difficult and delicate political issues ahead for Mexico, Canada, and US. COMMON SENSE solutions will surface, hopefully.

  6. We Americans apologize for our unconscious, inhumane, delirious leader. As we stand together, these 4 years will pass and in two years the political shift has the possibility of planting new seeds. We need leaders who lead without trauma. This old patriarchal paradigm is crashing down. It is our time to create new ways for humanity. This is where I chose to expand my energy ~ next generation leaders. We’ve got this beautiful humans. ✨✨✨✨✨

  7. Trump just says the quiet part out loud + some off the rails ideas thrown in. The US rarely respects sovereignty, and that is particularly so in Latin America. On one such rare event, the ceding of the Panama Canal to Panama (where the Panama Canal is located) Trump declared (paraphrasing): We’re taking the canal back! But of course it’s the US that is being ‘invaded’. That declaration to seize territory will set up some squabbling between the two completely different major parties in the US, but in reality both want to deny easy shipping to the one manufacturing superpower in the world. Trump’s being Trump will perhaps speed up the gears moving toward a multipolar world, though the last administration was no slouch in that regard.

  8. There are no people or countries taking the US seriously anymore. From today forward the US is an international joke. It’s a period at the end of the sentence for the world order established after WWII…and for the purpose of what?

  9. For context, and as many of you are completely unaware, the Persian Gulf is called that by many worldwide. However, on the West side of that gulf, particularly, the Arabs, it is called the Gulf of Arabia.

  10. The trump’s sure know how to put on a circus. Donald is a bully and Melania says be best, what an embarrassment to the United States , there are much more important issues to tend to besides watching a space rocket take off( during the aftermath of hurricane Dorian… Trump and musk , then his feckless c××t advisor / daughter during this aftermath of Dorian , was out picking berries, how delightful while humans are picking up the pieces of what was left of their lives . Dorian destroyed lives from the Bahamas to Nova Scotia, but the president was busy. Also when all of our other united states presidents were front and center at the podium facing the nation following such catastrophic events, where was trump after he instigated the riots???? Hiding like a little b***h in the bunker!!!! Boy oh boy . Can’t wait to see what other brilliant ideas this moron has in store for the United States, undoubtedly more ridicule and shame! If Melania had any real idea just how stupid she looked for both inauguration days she would realize why she feels like she is the most bullied . Two flakes , they are perfect for one another, superficial and ridiculous. Seeing those two makes me want to puke.

  11. The Gulf of America? As in the continent “America?” Just don’t tell Trump that Mexico is part of America, too, as are all the other countries of Central and South “America.” Like most people in the USA, he thinks that “America” is the name of a single country.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here


An aerial view of the hotel Excellence Coral Playa Mujeres

Massive new Isla Mujeres resort expected to create 3,000 jobs

8
The US $220-million, all-inclusive resort features 470 rooms, seven pools and a spa.
A cockroach like those you can name after your ex at the Nuevo Laredo Zoo

This Valentine’s Day, feed your cockroach ex to the animals at the Nuevo Laredo Zoo

0
The Nuevo Laredo Zoo is offering a creative way to get back at your least-favorite ex.
Soldiers guard a burned out car (narco blockade) in rural Sinaloa

New York Times: US will designate 6 Mexican cartels as terrorist groups

38
Among the most powerful of the Mexican cartels expected to receive the designation are the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.