Trump says he’s renaming Gulf of Mexico to ‘Gulf of America’
President-elect Donald Trump told reporters he plans to rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.”
President Donald Trump was quick to follow through on his surprising announcement a few weeks ago that he planned to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, issuing an executive order commanding it be so on the first day of his second term.
Gov. Ron DeSantis was just as quick to adopt it Monday, using the new, not-yet-official name in his own executive order concerning the freak winter storm that shattered Florida’s 130-year-old snow records, bringing 2 inches of snow and sleet to Tallahassee and up to 7.5 inches of snow in areas of Pensacola as of Tuesday evening.
“WHEREAS, an area of low pressure moving across the Gulf of America, interacting with Arctic air, will bring widespread impactful winter weather to North Florida beginning Tuesday…” DeSantis’ order began, possibly the first official use of the new name in the country.
DeSantis’ order declared a state of emergency, which kicks off state response, recovery and mitigation plans, streamlines cooperation between agencies and suspends local statutes or rules that may hinder them, activates the National Guard and Florida Guard, waives a wide variety of fees, allows pharmacists to dispense up to 30 days worth of maintenance medicine for patients in the area among other steps to help Floridians deal with the storm and its aftermath.
Has the Gulf of Mexico been changed to the Gulf of America?
Not yet.
The executive order issued Monday evening directs the secretary of the interior to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America” for use on official maps and throughout the federal government. The U.S. Board on Geographic Names is the federal office with the power to rename geographic places in the United States.
However, it seems like the name change will happen. Trump’s order also instructs every agency head with the power to appoint members to the Board to “review their respective appointees and consider replacing those appointees in accordance with applicable law,” which strongly suggests anyone not on board may quickly be replaced with someone who is.
Ordinarily, name changes in the U.S. take at least six months, according to the Board of Geographic Names, to allow time for consultation with states, tribes, mapmakers and other interested parties.
Trump’s order includes a deadline of 30 days.
Do other countries have to call it the Gulf of America?
That doesn’t mean other countries will honor the new name. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo mocked the suggestion during a news conference earlier this month and offered one of her own.
“Obviously the Gulf of Mexico is recognized by the United Nations… but why don’t we call this ‘Mexican America’?” she said, pointing to an area on the map that would now correspond to the United States.
“We’re going to call it Mexican America,” she said. “It sounds pretty, no?”
When there are geographical name discrepancies, the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names helps mediate, along with several other international bodies.
What is the Gulf of Mexico?
More than half of Florida’s coast borders the Gulf of Mexico, a partially landlocked body of water between the United States and Mexico that links ports in five Southern states and Mexico with the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean with two passages — called the Florida Straits — on either side of Cuba and the Yucatan Channel between Mexico and Cuba. The Gulf has an average depth of 5,300 feet.
Roughly the size of Alaska, the Gulf mainland shore runs more than 4,000 miles from the Florida Keys to Cabo Catoche on the Yucatán Peninsula, including the many bays and outlets, with more than half of it bordering Mexico’s coast.
Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas all share the coast, along with the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Vera Cruz, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán, and Quintana Roo.
Who named the Gulf of Mexico?
While existing residents obviously knew about it, the first European to find the Gulf was Sebastián de Ocampo in 1508-1509, according to the Texas State Historical Association. It remained unnamed until the early 1540s, considered part of the “North Sea” (Atlantic Ocean). One map dated 1584 called it “Mare de Nort,” or “Sea of the North.”
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Publish date : 2025-01-22 00:20:00
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