After Canada and Greenland, Donald Trump now eyes the Gulf of Mexico

US President-elect Donald Trump now wants to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America". He said the new name has a "beautiful ring to it." This proposal follows previous attempts by Trump to rename geographical features and challenge international borders. He has called Canada the "51st State," suggested Denmark sell Greenland to the US, and called for Panama to return the Panama Canal.

Trump had a strained relationship with Mexico during his presidency. Disagreements over border security and tariffs fueled his proposal to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, with Mexico footing the bill. The US government built or repaired about 450 miles of wall during his term.

However, renaming the Gulf of Mexico wouldn't be simple. While the US calls it the "Third Coast," both the US and Mexico currently use versions of "Gulf of Mexico." Another shared waterway, the river bordering Texas and several Mexican states, is called the Rio Grande in the US and Rio Bravo in Mexico. Changing the Gulf's name would likely involve the International Hydrographic Organization, of which both countries are members. This organization standardizes naming conventions for navigable waters. Domestic name changes are easier, as seen with President Obama's 2015 renaming of Mount McKinley to Denali, a decision Trump has said he wants to reverse.


Following Trump's comments, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene stated she would have her staff draft legislation for the name change, including funding for new maps and government materials. The Gulf of Mexico has had its current name for over four centuries, derived from a Native American city. This isn't the first attempt to rename the Gulf. A 2012 Mississippi bill proposed renaming parts of the Gulf touching its beaches the "Gulf of America," a proposal later described as a "joke." Comedian Stephen Colbert also suggested the name "Gulf of America" after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, saying, "We broke it, we bought it."

International naming disputes are common. A disagreement exists over the Sea of Japan's name, with South Korea arguing it wasn't widely used until Japanese rule. The International Hydrographic Organization is working to resolve such disputes. The Persian Gulf's name is also contested, with variations like "Gulf" and "Arabian Gulf" used in the Middle East. Iran threatened to sue Google in 2012 for not labeling it on maps. Even Hillary Clinton, during a 2013 speech, compared China's South China Sea claims to the US potentially renaming the Pacific Ocean the "American Sea" after World War II.