Mentioned not only in the weeks leading up to his inauguration but also in his first speech of his second term, President Donald Trump is set to rename the Gulf of Mexico and Mount Denali.
“America will reclaim its rightful place as the greatest, most powerful, most respected nation on Earth — inspiring the awe and admiration of the entire world,” Trump said in his speech. “A short time from now, we are going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.”
Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s spokesperson, shared in a post on the social media platform X that Trump was not only planning on using executive orders to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America” but that he also plans on reverting the name of the Alaskan mountain Mount Denali to Mount McKinley, in honor of the former president who it was initially named after.
During a press conference earlier this month, Trump said that he was thinking about renaming the landmarks while also saying he would seek to annex Greenland and the Panama Canal and merge with 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.”
Former President Obama is responsible for renaming Mount Denali, the nation’s highest peak, as a means to honor the nearby Native Americans who have a history with the mountain.
Trump floated the idea of renaming the mountain last month, saying he would look to honor the 25th president once again, Reuters reported.
“They took his name off Mount McKinley, right? That’s what they do to people. Now, he was a great president, very good president. At a minimum, he was a very good businessman. He was a businessman, then a governor, very successful businessman,” Trump said at a Turning Point USA event in December, Alaska Public Media reported.
While it will be easier for Trump to change the name of Mount Denali, renaming the Gulf of Mexico may be a bit more challenging.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum responded to Trump’s remarks about the name earlier this month, raising the issue that the US didn’t hold power over the naming of the international waters.
“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 in response.