Donald Trump will sign an executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America,” incoming press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday.
The order will instruct the Secretary of the Interior to implement the change on official maps and across federal government documents. Republican North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, nominated for the Department of Interior, will oversee the change.
Trump expressed his desire for the renaming during a speech at Mar-a-Lago on January 7, citing issues such as trade imbalance, illegal immigration, and concerns over drug trafficking. He described “Gulf of America” as “a beautiful name.”
Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, humorously suggested the idea of renaming the region “Mexican America” during a press conference on January 8.
Leavitt’s tweet also hinted at a plan to revert the name of Mount Denali, the highest peak in North America, back to Mount McKinley, reversing the 2015 change made under President Obama.
