The Mycenaean

Just days into his presidency, Donald Trump officially changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. He declared that he would rename the gulf before his inauguration and now the change is official.

Trump issued an executive order on the day of his second inauguration, which was January 20, 2025. The order — Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness — includes provisions for ‘restoring’ the names of both the Gulf of Mexico and the mountain Denali.

When Trump issued this order, you might have rolled your eyes and forgotten about it. However, now Google Maps is considering accepting this name change. Additionally, who knows what other events this action foreshadows?

Renaming the Gulf of Mexico

The name change of a body of water is not a huge deal, compared to other things Trump has done. Still, it was out of nowhere, which calls into question the reasoning for the change.

“I think [the name change] is ridiculous and just an unnecessary way to assert his global power that he would like to have, especially over Mexico,” said Tillie Noyes, senior.

What is the cost of America asserting its power over other nations? Broken alliances? War? Renaming water on a map could signal bigger issues further down the line. 

Noyes thinks the name change is related to Trump’s statements about annexing more land. Trump has made social media posts about making both Greenland and Canada a part of the United States. Noyes also thinks Trump’s increased tariffs coincides with the name change.

“He’s trying to enter into a tariff war with Mexico and Canada, so he wants to take something that is named after Mexico and give it to us,” said Noyes.

Trump certainly wants to have more world power, but has not stopped to think about whether Americans want that too. 

“With all of the problems in our world, his first thing was to rename the Gulf of Mexico. That’s not really that important, and I just think it’s dumb for the first priority being to rename the Gulf of Mexico,” said Makayla Harvey, junior.

“I just don’t think there’s any reason for it. I don’t think it would help anybody… I think it’s a power move,” said Maddie Beaver, junior.

Google Maps following Trump’s Decision

Google Maps has announced that they will follow Trump’s executive order and update the name of the gulf. They will only change the name for users in the United States. 

The Gulf of America is official, so Google Maps has every right to comply with the name change — but should they?

“I think it has to be a decision between other countries. It is international waters and unless everybody else makes that decision then the name shouldn’t be used,” said Gabby Harris, sophomore.

Who is really going to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America? It’s like when PNC Arena changed to the Lenovo Center. Lenovo can spend as much as they want on name rights, but no one from Raleigh will refer to it that way.

“I feel like naming it the Gulf of America is not important. It’s been like that for so long, so why [does Trump] feel the need to change it?” said Harvey. 

Renaming Denali

Denali, a mountain in Denali national park, is located in Alaska. The former name of the mountain was Mount McKinley, after a previous United States president. In 2016, the Obama administration changed its name to Denali, honoring an Alaskan governor’s request from 1975.

Donald Trump reversed this decision, changing the name back to Mount McKinley.

According to former President Obama’s executive order, “Denali is a local Athabascan name for the mountain.”

The name Denali honors Native Alaskan people and culture. Trump taking that away is ignorant and seems to lack much thought.

“I don’t think he should have [changed the name] because we know that America is on stolen land and trying to honor that stolen land is what we should do. Reversing it isn’t good,” said Harris.

One could argue that the name Mount McKinley is important because it is a tribute to a former president. However, Obama’s executive order mentions that former President William McKinley also never visited the mountain, nor did he have any other connection with it. 

Maybe Trump should name a different landmark after McKinley. Perhaps one in Ohio, the state that he is from?

“I feel like Trump doesn’t do his research. He just does things right when it’s happening and doesn’t think about the long-term effects,” said Beaver.

At the end of the day, the names of these landmarks will not impact our lives much. What’s concerning is the implications these name changes will have — both on international relations and cultural respect.