United States President-elect, Donald Trump, has announced his intention to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America,” citing U.S. contributions to the region’s development and his dissatisfaction with Mexico.
“We’re going to change because we do most of the work there and it’s ours,” Trump said during a wide-ranging press conference on Tuesday. “It’s appropriate, and Mexico has to stop allowing millions of people to pour into our country.”
Trump criticised Mexico for facilitating drug trafficking into the United States and vowed to impose “substantial tariffs” on both Mexico and Canada. Despite the sharp rhetoric, he added, “We want to get along with everybody. But you know … it takes two to tango.”
Shortly after Trump’s statement, Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a staunch Trump ally, declared on social media platform X that she had instructed her staff to begin drafting legislation to implement the name change.
“This is important to begin funding the changing of maps for all agencies within the federal government, like the FAA and the military,” she wrote.
The Gulf of Mexico, a critical waterway in North America, has been historically significant for centuries. Its current name, “Golfo de México,” first appeared on 16th-century maps during Spanish colonisation.
Covering approximately 600,000 square miles, it is the ninth-largest body of water in the world and serves as a vital hub for U.S. energy production, seafood supply, and tourism.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the gulf accounts for half of the nation’s petroleum refining and natural gas processing capacity and provides 40% of its seafood.
However, this is not the first time a proposal to rename the gulf has emerged. In 2012, Mississippi State Rep. Steve Holland introduced a bill to rename it the “Gulf of America” in a satirical jab at anti-immigrant sentiments among his Republican colleagues.
“I just thought if we’re gonna get into it, we might as well all get into it, it’s purely tongue and cheek,” Holland said at the time.
The concept also gained humorous traction in 2010 when comedian Stephen Colbert suggested the name during the BP oil spill on The Colbert Report, quipping, “We broke it, we bought it.”
The development comes just a day after the revival of Trump’s controversial proposal for a merger between the United States and another North American country, Canada.
Tribune Online reports that Trump, in a social media post on Monday, argued that such an arrangement would eliminate tariffs, lower taxes, and bolster Canada’s security against perceived threats from Russia and China.
He further claimed that merging the two countries would create unparalleled economic and security advantages.
“If Canada merged with the US, there would be no tariffs, taxes would go way down, and they would be totally secure from the threat of Russian and Chinese ships that are constantly surrounding them,” Trump posted.
“Together, what a great nation it would be!!!” he added.
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