You might have seen the headlines or noticed a weird glitch on your GPS lately. One day you’re looking at a map of the southern United States, and the next, the massive body of water below Louisiana has a brand-new label. It’s a question that has set the internet on fire: did Donald Trump rename the Gulf of Mexico?
The short answer is yes, but only if you’re a federal employee or looking at specific versions of Google Maps.
On January 20, 2025—literally his first day back in the Oval Office—President Trump signed Executive Order 14172. It was titled "Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness." It didn't just target the Gulf; it also flipped the name of North America’s highest peak back to Mount McKinley, undoing the 2015 change to Denali.
For the Gulf of Mexico, the order was specific. It directed federal agencies to stop using the traditional name and start calling it the Gulf of America.
The "Gulf of America" Order Explained
It wasn't just a random tweet or a passing comment at a rally. This was a formal directive. Basically, the President used his authority over the executive branch to mandate a nomenclature shift. Within days, the Department of the Interior was moving at light speed. By January 24, 2025, they confirmed that all federal agencies would adopt the "Gulf of America" name.
Think about the scale of that for a second.
💡 You might also like: Robert Hanssen: What Most People Get Wrong About the FBI's Most Damaging Spy
Every NOAA weather report, every Coast Guard navigation chart, and every Department of Energy oil lease had to be updated. The U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN) had to update the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), which is the "master list" for the U.S. government.
Trump's rationale was classic "America First." He argued that because the U.S. manages the lion's share of the territory’s economic assets—think oil, gas, and fisheries—the name should reflect American ownership. During a flight on Air Force One to New Orleans for Super Bowl 59, he even called the change "bigger than the Super Bowl."
He eventually proclaimed February 9, 2025, as the first "Gulf of America Day."
Can He Actually Do That?
Legally, it's a bit of a split decision.
A President has a massive amount of power over how the federal government operates. If he wants the Department of Agriculture to call a tomato a "Red Joy Sphere" in their internal memos, he technically can. But his power stops at the edge of the private sector and international borders.
📖 Related: Why the Recent Snowfall Western New York State Emergency Was Different
- Federal Use: Total control. The GNIS now officially lists it as the Gulf of America for U.S. government purposes.
- International Use: Zero control. The United Nations and the International Hydrographic Organization still recognize the Gulf of Mexico.
- Mexico's Reaction: Predictably, they weren't thrilled. President Claudia Sheinbaum sarcastically suggested renaming North America "Mexican America" in response.
Honestly, the whole thing created a bit of a cartographic identity crisis. Since February 2025, Google Maps and Apple Maps have been using "dynamic labeling." If you’re sitting in Houston, your phone might say Gulf of America. If you cross the border into Matamoros, it switches back to Golfo de México.
The Battle with the Press
One of the wildest parts of this saga involved the Associated Press (AP). Most news outlets are picky about their style guides. The AP decided they weren't going to play ball with the new name, sticking to the "common usage" of Gulf of Mexico.
The White House didn't take that sitting down.
In February 2025, they actually barred an AP reporter from an Oval Office event, explicitly stating the ban would stay in place until the outlet agreed to use the new name. It took a federal judge issuing a preliminary injunction in April to get the AP their press passes back.
It’s rare to see a fight over a map turn into a First Amendment showdown, but here we are.
👉 See also: Nate Silver Trump Approval Rating: Why the 2026 Numbers Look So Different
Is This Name Permanent?
That’s the trillion-dollar question. While the executive order changed things for the executive branch, it didn't change the law.
There are dozens of federal statutes—actual laws passed by Congress—that specifically mention the "Gulf of Mexico." For example, the Magnuson-Stevens Act, which governs U.S. fisheries, uses the old name. NOAA admitted in a Federal Register notice on August 7, 2025, that while they can change their regulations, they can't change the statutes.
Unless Congress passes a bill to officially rename it across all U.S. law, the name "Gulf of Mexico" remains the legal standard for many official functions. The House did pass a bill (H.R. 276) in May 2025 to codify the change, but it’s been sitting in the Senate ever since.
What This Means for You
If you're a fisherman, a boater, or just someone who likes the beach, you’re probably seeing both names used interchangeably. Maritime lawyers are having a field day, advising clients to update их contracts to include "the body of water formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico" to avoid insurance disputes.
Basically, the name change is real in the eyes of the U.S. government, but the rest of the world is largely ignoring it.
What you can do next:
- Check your documents: If you hold federal permits or maritime insurance, verify if they’ve updated their terminology to avoid "outdated name" clauses.
- Adjust your search: When looking for federal data (like NOAA tide charts), you might get more accurate "current" results by searching for "Gulf of America."
- Monitor the Senate: Keep an eye on H.R. 276. If that passes, the "Gulf of Mexico" might officially disappear from all U.S. legal documents for good.
It's a strange time for geography, but whether you call it the Gulf of Mexico or the Gulf of America, the water is still just as warm.