Trump is not stopping at Gulf of America as he 'plans to rename Persian Gulf'
Renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America was apparently not enough for Donald Trump.
The American president is reportedly planning to announce that the US will call the Persian Gulf a new name – the Arabian Gulf or the Gulf of Arabia.
Trump will reveal the change during his trip to Saudi Arabia next week, two US officials told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Metro.
Trump's latest move to rebrand geography would come several months after he signed an executive order – one of his first in his second term – to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. He then recognized February 9 as the first-ever Gulf of America Day and following the order, Google Maps made the change as well.
The Persian Gulf got its name in the 16th century, but many nations in the Middle East have been referring to it as the Arabian Gulf or the Gulf of Arabia. The US military has also used Arabian Gulf in all of its statements, and Trump referred to it that way during his first term.
Iran, which is the former Persia, in 2012 threatened a lawsuit against Google for not naming the body of water on its maps. The nearly 97,000-square-mile gulf borders Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.
Google Maps in the US labels the body of water as Persian Gulf (Arabian Gulf).
Trump will visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates from May 13 to 16. He is seeking to forge stronger connections with the Gulf countries for their support in limiting Iran's nuclear program, resolving the Israel-Hamas war, and encouraging them to invest financially in the US.
Trump in his Oval Office meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney stated he would make an 'earth-shattering' announcement, and it is not clear if he was referring to the renaming the gulf. More Trending
'I won't tell you on what… and it's very positive,' said Trump.
'It'll be one of the most important announcements that have been made in many years about a certain subject, very important subject.'
Trump has the power to change the gulf's name in the US, but not in other countries.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
MORE: New Disney theme park in the Middle East has one major difference
MORE: Donald Trump claims football World Cup could end Russia's invasion of Ukraine
MORE: Major travel requirement change you need to fly across US comes into effect today
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
15 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Trump reveals the advice he gave Barron about drugs and tattoos
President Donald Trump revealed his 'formula for good parenting' as 19-year-old Barron wraps up his first year in college. 'I always said the same thing. I said: no drugs, no alcohol, no cigarettes. I also would say don't get tattoos, but I don't say it too strongly, because a lot of people have gotten tattoos, and that's what they choose to do,' Trump told The New York Post in a podcast interview released Wednesday. Many of the president's supporters at rallies sport tattoos and even some members of Trump's Cabinet, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The 78-year-old president has made a point of not drinking, as his older brother, Fred Trump Jr., suffered from alcoholism and died young, at age 42. He boasted that his five children - Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka, Eric, Tiffany and Barron - were 'born smart.' 'Barron is great. He is very tall and good,' the president said of his youngest, his only child with first lady Melania Trump. The president also revealed the sad reason why Barron was drawn to studying at New York University - he thought his late grandmother would live nearby. 'He just wanted to be there,' Trump said. 'He wanted to be there because his grandmother was gonna stay and wait for him in an apartment near the school. And she passed away.' Barron Trump is spotted leaving class at New York University last month. President Donald Trump said his 'formula for good parenting' was to tell his broad to avoid alcohol, cigarettes, drugs and even tattoos Melania's mother Amalija Knavs died in January 2024 at the age of 78. 'She was fantastic. Melania's mother was a fantastic woman. And Melania is a fantastic mother, by the way. She loves Baron,' Trump said. 'He's very tall and he's a good-looking guy.' Barron started at NYU as a freshman later in the year. Trump said he warned his son 'a little bit' about 'all the lefty professors' at the school. During the 2024 cycle, Barron, at that point 18, popped his head up more on the campaign trail. He attended his first Trump rally at his father's Doral golf club in Miami in July - the rally the Republican nominee attended before the Butler, Pennsylvania event where he was nearly assassinated. Barron also pushed his father to appear on particular podcasts, which likely helped the president increase his strength among the young male vote - a bloc Democrats usually overwhelmingly win. Trump lauded his other children in the interview too. 'Eric has done a fantastic job,' the president said. 'Ivanka, you know Ivanka? Yes. Very well. She's so great,' he continued. 'And Tiffany has done really well,' he said. She went to a great law school and did very well. Always a good student.' Eric Trump, and brother Donald Trump Jr., have been inking deals as the heads of the Trump Organization, while Ivanka has stepped back from the political limelight, after working in the first Trump administration. She did travel with her father over the weekend. Tiffany Trump had her first child, a son, in May. But it's Donald Trump Jr. who's most often referenced when there's talk of a Trump dynasty. Trump wasn't sure if Don Jr. would ever run for president. 'I don't know. I mean, I don't know. I think all of them probably have a future in politics, frankly. And Don is very good. A good guy. He's an outdoorsman,' the president said.
NBC News
22 minutes ago
- NBC News
Head of controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation refuses to reveal who funds it
TEL AVIV — The new executive chairman for the controversial American-backed humanitarian organization distributing aid in the Gaza Strip refused to reveal the donors who are financing the agency, though he did tell NBC News that to his knowledge the group is not funded by the Israeli government. Johnnie Moore, an evangelical Christian and former PR consultant who advised President Donald Trump during his first term, was appointed executive chairman of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) last week as the organization reeled from the resignation of his predecessor. It has also faced criticism from the United Nations and aid groups for a lack of independence from Israel, which backs the organization along with the U.S. Since it started operating late last month, the group has set up aid distribution sites in Gaza in response to international pressure over serious malnutrition in Gaza, where Israel recently lifted an 11-week complete blockade on food, aid and medical supplies entering the enclave. But regular bouts of deadly violence in and around those sites has also brought increasing scrutiny on the GHF's source of funding and the degree of autonomy it has from Israel. In an exclusive interview with NBC News last week, Moore said it was 'a private foundation.' 'Like lots of private foundations, you know, it doesn't disclose its donors,' he said. 'Anything that we do and anything that we say publicly is going to distract from the mission, and we have one mission, just one mission, which is to feed Gazans.' Pressed on accusations that Israel was financing and controlling the organization, Moore said that 'based upon what I know, this is an independent initiative that is not funded by the Israeli government.' Other questions have also swirled around the GHF, even before it launched four aid distribution points in southern and central Gaza. A day before it began operations in the strip, Moore's predecessor Jake Wood resigned, saying in a letter published by Reuters that continuing to work with the group would compromise his 'neutrality, impartiality and independence.' United Nations agencies and major aid groups that previously ran hundreds of community kitchens and bakeries in the enclave have also refused to cooperate with it, saying it violates humanitarian principles by allowing Israel to decide who receives aid, forces widespread displacement in Gaza, and concentrates distribution in areas that may not be accessible to everyone. Setting up so few sites for food distribution meant crowd control problems were inevitable, according to Ciaran Donnelly, the senior vice president for international programs at the International Rescue Committee, which ran major relief operations in Gaza. 'No aid organization would recommend doing it that way,' he said. Inside Israel, as well, critics have questioned its independence. Last month in front of Israel's legislature, opposition leader Yair Lapid, without providing evidence, accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government of funding the GHF through foreign shell companies. And last week, citing unnamed public officials, Israel's public broadcaster, Kan, reported that the Israeli government had sent hundreds of millions of shekels to the group. Israel's government has repeatedly denied it funds the GHF. Any organization 'being used by occupying powers' would not be able to carry out its task according to the humanitarian principles of impartiality and independence, said Philip Grant, the executive director of TRIAL International, a Geneva-based nongovernmental organization that advocates for victims of war crimes. TRIAL International has called on the Swiss government to investigate GHF, whose only registered presence outside the U.S. is in Geneva. While the GHF has said it is working to open new sites, including in northern Gaza, no such distribution points have opened yet, forcing some Palestinians with advanced injuries and disabilities to walk long distances for aid — often through dangerous areas and extreme heat. Such onerous requirements for something as basic as food could amount to war crimes, Grant said, and could even lead to accusations that organizations like GHF are complicit. 'This operation comes with a huge risk in terms of violations of the Geneva Conventions,' Grant said. 'Especially the forced displacement of populations, which, if carried out, would be a participation in the war crime of enforced displacement of civilian population.'
The Independent
23 minutes ago
- The Independent
Dan Bongino wants to move FBI training program from iconic Quantico HQ to Alabama: report
Leaders in the FBI are reportedly pushing to move one of the bureau's training programs from its headquarters in Quantico, Virginia, to Huntsville, Alabama, as part of President Donald Trump's desire to move federal agencies out of the Washington D.C. area. Dan Bongino, the FBI deputy director, has preliminarily proposed moving the FBI National Academy, a 10-week training academy for 250 domestic and international law enforcement officers, to Huntsville, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday. The FBI's training program for new bureau hires and other parts of its facilities, including the laboratory division, would remain at Quantico, people familiar with the discussion told The Post. While the proposal is still in preliminary stages, it aligns with Trump's April deadline asking agencies to create plans to move their headquarters from Washington D.C., to separate areas of the country to ' be where the people are.' However, the push to move to Huntsville, the most populous city in Alabama, has drawn criticism from some personnel who believe the move could be unjustifiably costly, The Post reported. While the FBI has operated at Redstone Arsenal, a U.S. Army base near downtown Huntsville, for decades, some expressed concern that sending hundreds of staff and agents to set up the training facility would require upgrades. 'If you look at FBI field offices, for example, you'll see many that are not located in downtown areas given the highly specialized nature of these facilities and their security requirements,' Norman Dong, the former Public Buildings Service commissioner under the Obama administration, told Federal News Network in April. 'In places like Atlanta or Sacramento, these FBI offices are located far outside of the central city,' Dong added. The FBI Academy is currently located in Quantico, a town in Prince William County, Virginia, which is approximately 35 miles outside of D.C. A spokesperson for the FBI said that any relocation options were being evaluated to determine if it could save the bureau money while also serving as a sufficient facility. Since Trump took office in January, the bureau has undergone significant changes, beginning with its leadership. Trump nominated Kash Patel to serve as FBI director despite Patel having a history of taking controversial pro-Trump stances. The president then tapped Bongino, a former Secret Service agent who became a popular right-wing podcaster, as deputy director. After Patel was sworn in, he said he would relocate roughly 1,000 staff and agents out of the D.C. office and said he'd move 500 people to the Huntsville facility so the FBI could have more of a presence in other cities. Trump proposed moving federal buildings and agencies outside of D.C. during his first administration, but the plan did not have immense success, in part due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Trump moved the Bureau of Land Management's headquarters from D.C. to Grand Junction, Colorado in 2019 so it could be closer to the land it manages. However, a review by the Biden administration found that the move caused more than 80 percent of the agency's employees to leave. Eventually, the headquarters were restored back to Washington D.C.
