Gulf of Mexico is now officially Gulf of America, according to Donald Trump
While Donald Trump is well within his rights to rename the Gulf of Mexico in federal records, the same cannot be enforced internationally. Mexico pointed out that the Gulf of Mexico name is internationally recognised and has been used for hundreds of years.
The US Department of the Interior has announced that it will implement President Donald Trump's executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. Along with the Gulf of Mexico, the executive order also renamed Denali, a mountain in Alaska that has the highest peak in North America, as Mount McKinley.
"As directed by the President, the Gulf of Mexico will now officially be known as the Gulf of America, and North America's highest peak will once again bear the name Mount McKinley," the Board on Geographic Names in the Interior Department said.
CREDIT: REUTERS
Why Trump wants to rename Gulf of Mexico
Last week, before his inauguration as US President, Trump had said that the Gulf of Mexico should be renamed as the Gulf of America.
"We're going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which has a beautiful ring that covers a lot of territory, the Gulf of America. 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," Trump had said.
Can Gulf of Mexico be renamed
While Trump is well within his rights to rename the Gulf of Mexico in federal records, the same cannot be enforced internationally.
CREDIT: REUTERS
Mexico pointed out that the Gulf of Mexico name is internationally recognised and has been used for hundreds of years.
Mexican reaction
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum had even suggested that North America, including the United States and Canada, be renamed "Mexican America", which was the name used on an early map of the region.
CREDIT: NOAA
Could affect Trump's deportation efforts
The renaming of the Gulf of Mexico is likely to upset US-Mexico relations when it comes to bilateral trade and the deportation of undocumented immigrants. On Friday, there were reports that Mexico, which accounts for the highest number of undocumented immigrants in the US, has refused American military aircraft deporting migrants to land in the country.
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Bobins Abraham is the Assistant News Editor at Indiatimes. He has more than twelve years of experience in TV and digital journalism. An avid student of history and geopolitics, he is a conservationist and environmentalist at heart. He writes on environment, sustainability, human-animal conflict and more.
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