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Since the 1550s, the stretch of sea between Texas, Florida and Mexico has been known as the Gulf of Mexico. But on January 7 2025, US president-elect Donald Trump announced that he intended to rename the gulf "the Gulf of America." A bold move with hints of imperialism creeping in.

Why It’s Been the Gulf of Mexico Since Forever:

As I mentioned earlier, the name "Gulf of Mexico" has been used since the 16th century, which is when Spanish explorers started mapping the region. Spanish-language maps called it the Golfo de México. The name remained for several valid reasons: it bordered New Spain (colonial Mexico) and the Spanish were also the first Europeans to map it so extensively.

The name "Mexico" was also influenced by the Mexica (Aztecs). In Nahuatl, the language of the Mexica, the region was called Mexihco. The name is a nod to Mexico's rich heritage and pre-colonial past. So it's understandable why some people would be upset by Trump wanting to change the name.

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January 20, 2025: Trump Signs:

Executive Order 14172 was signed on the 20th January 2025, telling US agencies to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America." It was confirmed by the US Interior Department that US federal agencies would begin to use the new name from January 24.

The renaming was framed as an act of patriotism, though it didn't apply to international maps. Trump also declared February 9th 2025 as "Gulf of America Day" to further cement the change.

A Corporate Glow-up:

Google Maps, Apple Maps, Microsoft/Bing and several energy companies such as BP and Shell adopted the new name, at least for their US audiences. Media outlets like Fox News also used the name while USA Today used both.

Meanwhile, other companies were pushing back. Platforms like MapQuest, National Geographic and OpenStreetMap continued to refer to it as the Gulf of Mexico- citing historical accuracy and international naming standards.

Internationally, the name change was and still is largely ignored. Global news agencies like the BBC, Al Jazeera and Le Monde continued using the established name.

Name Change? Not Everyone's Buying It:

A poll by Marquette University in February found that out of 1018 respondents nationally, 71% opposed the renaming. In Florida, a poll of 871 registered voters found that 58% of voters were also against the name change. It's clear that Trump's actions don't represent America, they represent himself and his own self-centred world.

The Associated Press (AP) also famously refused to use the new name, also citing historical accuracy and global naming standards. The White House responded by not inviting a reporter from the AP to an event in Oval Office; the AP executive editor Julie Pace condemned this as a violation of its First Amendment rights. The First Amendment of the US Constitution guarantees: "Congress shall make no law... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press..." So the government can't force the press to use political terminology to conform to Trump's political narrative. The AP filed a federal lawsuit and won as the judge stated that the White House violated the First Amendment by denying press access based on content and viewpoint.

Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum responded with a sarcastic counterproposal. In early January during a press conference, she stood beside a world map from the 1600s and humorously suggested renaming North America to "América Mexicana" to mirror Trump's own actions and turning the tables on his own nationalist views.

Renaming the Gulf of Mexico echoes colonial mindsets. By literally redrawing a map to fit Trump's own views, he disregarded the history and cultural significance of the name. The new name implies that the waters are American and shared with Mexico, when actually there's evidence to suggest otherwise.

The Gulf has been called the Gulf of Mexico since the 1500s, long before the United States and Founding Fathers existed. The decision to rename the Gulf shows that the world hasn't yet moved on from imperialist traditions, instead they're redressed to fit society today.