Editor’s note: This article has been updated to accurately identify Denali.
(NEXSTAR) — President Donald Trump is set to begin his second inauguration in earnest on Monday. In addition to declaring a national energy emergency and issuing executive orders regarding the U.S.-Mexico border, President Trump appears intent on enacting another change he has teased: renaming the Gulf of Mexico. is.
Earlier this month, President Trump told reporters he wanted it to be known as the “Gulf of America,” calling it a “beautiful name” and “appropriate.”
This immediately provoked opposition from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, who suggested that North America be referred to as “America Mexicana” or “Mexican America.” That didn’t stop Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) from quickly introducing a bill to rename the bay.
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Ahead of President Trump’s inauguration on Monday, incoming press secretary Caroline Leavitt shared with X that Trump plans to rename Denali as well as the Gulf of Mexico as part of his first executive order.
The post also includes a link to the New York Post, which reports that President Trump has advocated for the Gulf of Mexico to become the Gulf of the United States. Denali returns to Mount McKinley — President Barack Obama renamed the continent’s highest mountain in 2015.
FILE – A tour bus kicks up dust on a sunny day in Alaska’s Denali National Park on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2013, with Denali in the background. A popular national park in interior Alaska is closed to road traffic due to persistent rain. – The park announced Tuesday, August 24, 2021, about the landslide problem that is being exacerbated by climate change. (AP Photo/Manuel Valdez, File)
Citing a preview of the executive order, the newspaper reported that the measure was meant to celebrate “American greatness” and would require the Secretary of the Interior to change the name. In federal communications and official maps, these locations are referred to as American Bay and Mount McKinley.
Mount McKinley was named after Republican President William McKinley, who was assassinated in 1901. President Trump previously praised McKinley at a rally in December 2024, calling him a “very successful businessman” and “a very good president.”
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Trump criticized President Obama’s decision to rename the mountain in 2015, a move that recognized “Denali’s sacred status to generations of Alaska Native people.” . He then vowed to return it to McKinley during his first term as president. Lawmakers representing Alaska have long resisted Denali becoming McKinley again.
But does President Trump have the authority to change the names of both sites?
While it’s possible that President Obama could follow the same path that followed McKinley in renaming Denali (technically, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell used her authority to rename the mountain), It is unclear exactly whether this is required by President Trump’s executive order.
Since Denali is within the borders of the United States, it can be a relatively easy process. Renaming the Gulf of Mexico could be even more complicated.
378913 01: Penn Energy oil exploration drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico at sunset. (Photo courtesy of Getty Images)
It is not a unilateral decision and other countries do not need to refer to it in the same way.
The International Hydrographic Organization, whose members include the United States and Mexico, strives to ensure that all of the world’s seas, oceans, and navigable areas are uniformly surveyed and charted, some of which even have names. Masu. Countries may refer to the same body of water or landmarks by different names in their national documents.
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John Nyberg, director of the International Hydrographic Organization, told the New York Times that “there is no formal international agreement or protocol for naming maritime areas.”
The U.S. geographic naming organization, the U.S. Board of Geographical Names, explains that renaming a natural feature will only be considered for “compelling reasons.”
“In general, the most important policy regarding names is local use and acceptance,” it explains.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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