On January 20, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14172, officially renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. He then named February 9th the first Gulf of America Day, calling for celebrations and ceremonies on that day. This decision has sparked a significant amount of controversy and debate on whether or not the renaming will be accepted.
The Gulf of Mexico, named in the 16th century, has a rich history behind it from the colonization of Mexico by the Spaniards through Mexico’s independence from Spain up to today. The Gulf of Mexico had been named before the United States was even a country. In renaming the Gulf critics feel it erases the history that is behind the name and the events that have happened in the Gulf.
In response to the executive order, Google Maps and Apple Maps have both changed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America in the United States. As a reaction both Mexico and Cuba are not happy with Trump’s order to rename the Gulf. Mexico’s President, Claudia Sheinbaum, is suing Google for renaming it the Gulf of America on Google Maps, arguing that they have more coastline than the United States, being a total of 1,743 miles of coastline for Mexico while the United States has 1,680 miles.
While Trump has the authority to rename the Gulf in the United States, he can not force the other countries to acknowledge this change. Since the United States, Mexico, and Cuba all have jurisdiction over different parts of the Gulf, none of them should be able to change it’s name since none of them own it.
Renaming the Gulf to Gulf of America will change the history that children learn because they will learn about the Gulf of America not of Mexico which is not historically right.
