During his second term, President Trump has made a large and continuous series of changes to the United States. Many of these changes have been highly controversial. Trump has utilized executive orders to push his agenda, such as the mass deportation of illegal immigrants, or in this case, changing the official name of the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America.” There has been an overwhelming amount of dispute surrounding this decision for various reasons.
One reason as to why so many believe that this specific renaming was controversial was because of its ties to history. The Gulf of Mexico was originally named by Spanish Explorers who associated the body of water with the land of Mexico. Ever since the exploration age, the Gulf of Mexico has been recognized internationally through trade and navigation.
Another reason why Trump’s renaming was so questionable was because of how unnecessary the change was. Changing the name of an international body of water in order to glorify an individual nation is more likely to have the opposite effect, which is exactly what is happening right now. Some might agree that the name change may be doing more bad for our country than good since it has no practical effect on the efficiency and improvement of the United States. The name change may also prompt other nations to further criticize the U.S.
Many are not sure why the President changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. However, a lot can be inferred from what President Trump stated during a news conference when he announced his agenda. According to an article from The Washington Post, the President stated, “We’re going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which has a beautiful ring.” Many can infer that he made the name change in order to further glorify the United States of America.
People can also infer that Trump may just be “claiming” another part of the world. This “claiming” could be compared to how North Vietnam changed the name of Saigon to Ho Chi Minh City. With that being said, North Vietnam claimed the land through warfare, whereas Trump simply issued an executive order to rename the gulf.
This name change wasn’t the only name change under Executive Order 14172. Under the same order, President Trump also had Denali renamed to Mount McKinley, which had been the mountain’s original and officially recognized name.
These renamings are the President’s method of “restoring names that honor American greatness”. According to Section 1 of the executive order, it aims to “promote the extraordinary heritage of our Nation and ensure future generations of American citizens celebrate the legacy of our American heroes.”
The order essentially uses renaming to memorialize American history through such landmarks, despite the landmarks having larger historical significance for other nations and ethnic groups. For example, the name “Denali” was given to the mountain in 2015 because the name was originally used by the Koyukon Alaskan natives. On the other hand, the mountain had been named “Mount McKinley” from 1897 to 2015, which marks that it had significant importance in American geography. Nevertheless, this is but another renaming controversy that is taking place under Trump’s executive orders, and is still being disputed by many.
The major difference between the McKinley-Denali renaming and the Gulf of America controversy is that the mountain is on American soil, while the gulf is an international body of water. Many believe that Trump has no right to rename a body of water that isn’t owned by the United States.
While these changes are disliked by a lot of people, they are not permanent. Trump renamed Mount McKinley/Denali in 2025 after Obama initially renamed it ten years ago. Any future President has the power and authority to change the names of these landmarks back to their original names if they choose to do so. Due to the higher levels of controversy surrounding the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico, it is more likely that a future President (most likely a Liberal) will choose to change the name back to its original name.
President Trump’s executive order has been highly contentious because it changed the name of an international body of water only as a matter of commemorating American history through landmarks in order to further honor our nation.
