New Jersey lawmaker proposes legislation renaming Delaware Bay to 'The Bay Of New Jersey'
A New Jersey Republican has proposed legislation to change the Delaware Bay to "The Bay of New Jersey," appearing to be inspired by President Donald Trump's executive order changing the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
The measure, introduced Thursday by GOP state Sen. Michael Testa, would order state agencies to use "The Bay of New Jersey" in publications, signage, websites and materials to reflect the new designation and notify relevant federal entities, NJ.com reported.
"I look at the robust fishing industry - commercial fishing industry and recreational industry of the State of New Jersey," he told the outlet. "I think that the fact that we have to call the bay that we fish in the Delaware Bay - they've had a claim to that long enough."
Testa represents Cape May County, which the bay borders.
"It's time to Make New Jersey Great Again!" Testa wrote on X.
The bay is a vital body of water for New Jersey tourism, commerce and travel that has had the name of its southern neighbor since 1610, according to the Delaware government's website, and was named after the third baron de la Warr, Thomas West, who governed the Virginia colony.
The proposed legislation comes after Trump signed an order in January renaming the northern part of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. The body of water has shared borders between the U.S. and Mexico, and Trump's order only carries authority within the U.S.
Last month, U.S. House Republicans passed the Gulf of America Act, marking the first step in codifying Trump's order in the U.S. The legislation is now awaiting consideration in the Senate.
Trump's order also prompted Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, a Democrat, to jokingly suggest amending the Long Island Sound to the "Connecticut Sound."
"While the maps are changing, here's an idea," Lamont posted on X in February, tagging New York Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul with an altered map with the sound renamed.
Another bill Testa introduced this week seeks to reclaim a slice of land along Salem County's shore claimed by Delaware in a decades-old border agreement with New Jersey, according to NJ.com.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
23 minutes ago
- Forbes
NATO Launches Global Arms Race As Defense Spending Set To Explode
Unidentified NATO soldiers Readers of a certain age will recall President Ronald Reagan launching one of the most ambitious military buildups in American history. In a bid to overwhelm the Soviet Union, Reagan doubled the U.S. military's budget from under $150 billion in 1980 to over $300 billion by 1985. The government invested heavily in B-1 bombers, MX missiles and an expanded Navy fleet. The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), dubbed 'Star Wars' by critics, aimed to create a space-based missile defense system. The 40th president believed that peace could only be achieved through strength, and history proved him right. The Americans outspent and out-innovated the Soviets… and ultimately outlasted them. NATO Agrees to Increase Defense Spending Today, we're seeing Regan's strategy play out on the international stage. At the NATO summit in The Hague last week, the 32-member alliance agreed to boost defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2035, with a floor of 3.5% earmarked for 'core military needs.' That's more than double the previous 2% target set back in 2014. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte credited President Donald Trump with pushing allies to commit to a higher spending level. 'This would not have happened' without Trump, Rutte said. Trump echoed Reagan's 'peace through strength' energy in his own remarks: 'It's vital that this additional money be spent on very serious military hardware... and hopefully that hardware is going to be made in America because we have the best hardware in the world.' Growing Number of Conflicts Across the Globe It's not difficult to see why this spending spree is happening now. The world is getting more dangerous. According to the 2025 Global Peace Index, there are 59 active state-based conflicts globally, the highest number since World War II. Number of state-based conflicts is now higher than at any point since WWII Ranked as this year's least peaceful country, Russia remains an active military threat, with its war in Ukraine extending into a third year and showing few signs of resolution. China is executing a 'massive' military expansion, according to NATO, including advanced missile systems and naval expansion in the South China Sea. And as you know, Iran recently retaliated against U.S. airstrikes with missile attacks on Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, raising tensions in the Middle East. NATO Allies Moving Fast Some NATO countries aren't waiting until 2035 to act. Poland is already spending over 4% of its GDP on defense, the highest rate among all other and bottom five military spenders in NATO Germany has pledged to reach 3.5% by 2029, even changing its constitutional debt rules to make it possible. The UK just ordered a dozen nuclear-capable F-35A fighter jets, marking its biggest nuclear deterrent upgrade since the Cold War. Here in the U.S., President Trump has proposed an $893 billion defense budget for 2026 that favors drones and smart missiles, while reducing some legacy investments such as warships and fighter jets. He appears to be focused on high-tech, cost-effective equipment, modeled in part after Ukraine's recent successes with drones on the battlefield. Defense a 'Dynamic Growth Industry'? Defense has long been considered a 'value sector'—slow and steady, backed by government contracts. That narrative could be changing. According to analysts at Stifel, we're entering a new cycle where defense is a 'dynamic growth industry.' We're now in an arms race driven not just by tanks and jets, but also AI, cyber, space and next-gen missiles. Consider that U.S. defense budgets remain near record highs. Defense spending in Europe rose 17% year-over-year to $693 billion in 2024, before the new 5% NATO target became a reality. Despite this, Europe is still overly reliant on American hardware and production capacity, according to findings by the Kiel Institute. That, too, could spell opportunity. American defense companies—especially those focused on drones, missile systems, cybersecurity and space-based tech—stand to benefit the most from this multi-decade rearmament cycle. For investors, I believe this marks the beginning of a long-term secular shift.
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump Celebrates Civil War Win by Threatening Entire GOP
Donald Trump is once again reminding Republicans where disloyalty gets you. The president celebrated on Sunday night shortly after GOP Senator Thom Tillis announced he would not seek re-election next year. A day earlier, the North Carolina Republican had voted against advancing Trump's signature spending package—the so-called 'big, beautiful bill'—incurring the president's wrath. Trump quickly slammed Tillis in Truth Social posts and threatened to back a primary challenger. 'Great News! 'Senator' Thom Tillis will not be seeking reelection," Trump wrote on Truth Social after Tillis bowed out. In a follow-up post, Trump suggested that Republicans who oppose his legislative priorities could pay a political price. 'For all cost cutting Republicans, of which I am one, REMEMBER, you still have to get reelected,' he wrote. Tillis, 64, responded on X with some politely delivered snark. 'Thanks for the retirement wishes, Mr. President, looking forward to working with you for a successful 2026,' he wrote. 'Word to the wise, let's avoid minisoldr,' he added, sharing a September 2024 article about Trump's support for then-North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson. Robinson, the GOP nominee for governor, lost the race after a scandal involving comments he allegedly posted on a porn forum under the screen name 'minisoldr.' In Tillis' earlier announcement, he said it had become 'increasingly evident that leaders who are willing to embrace bipartisanship, compromise, and demonstrate independent thinking are becoming an endangered species.' He said he was not eager to spend another six years 'navigating the political theatre and partisan gridlock in Washington,' and would prefer to spend more time with family. He intends to continue serving North Carolina for the next 18 months 'without the distraction of raising money or campaigning,' and with the 'pure freedom to call the balls and strikes as I see fit,' he said. Lara Trump, the president's daughter-in-law, is among the names being floated as a contender to replace him, a source close to the Trump family told NBC News. Tillis is not the first GOP lawmaker Trump has threatened to primary in recent weeks. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky is being targeted by a new pro-Trump super PAC that seeks to unseat him next year, after he voted against the bill in the House and criticized Trump's strikes on Iran. The version of the spending bill that the Senate moved forward with on Saturday would add nearly $3.3 trillion to the national debt over a decade, according to an estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. That's nearly $1 trillion more than the earlier iteration passed by the House. The package includes sweeping tax cuts, increased spending on defense and anti-immigration initiatives, and rollbacks to social programs like Medicaid. The CBO analysis also found that close to 12 million Americans would become uninsured by 2034 if the bill was passed. Tillis had said the Senate version of the bill 'contains significant changes to Medicaid that would be devastating to North Carolina, and I cannot support it.' He was one of two Senate Republicans to join Democrats in opposing the bill in a 51–49 procedural vote to advance it. The bill now proceeds to full Senate debate, with Republicans aiming to send it to Trump's desk by July 4 following final House approval. In a Sunday evening post, Trump encouraged Senate Republicans to overrule the chamber's parliamentarian—a nonpartisan official who interprets Senate rules—in order to pass key components of his bill. Democrat Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, slammed the legislation as debate began on Sunday. 'Republicans are about to pass the single most expensive bill in U.S. history, to give tax breaks to billionaires while taking away Medicaid, SNAP benefits and good paying jobs for millions of people,' Schumer said.
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Leaving Trump's side didn't make Elon Musk much more popular
Recent polls show Elon Musk's favorability declined with Republicans after feuding with Donald Trump. Musk's overall favorability already had sustained significant hits during his time in the White House. The billionaire's struggles come during a critical time for Tesla. Elon Musk's image isn't what it used to be. The Tesla CEO's feud with President Donald Trump risked worsening his already underwater popularity, and new polling shows that even the apparent peace between the once-friends hasn't repaired Musk's standing with Republicans. A new Morning Consult poll found that Musk's net favorability is at -14 percentage points. The good news for the billionaire is that his overall standing as of June 20 is up four points since June 15, the week after the peak of his feud with Trump. It's still lower than where he stood when he left the White House in late May. Among Republicans, Musk is down roughly 12 points; he'd dropped 10 points immediately after he criticized Trump in early June. "In the US, Musk managed to alienate both those on the left (due to his support for DOGE, the Trump administration, and the election) and those on the right (as seen in his statements on X following his fallout with the President over the "big beautiful bill")," Frank T. Rothaermel, a regents' professor at the Scheller College of Business at Georgia Tech, told Business Insider in an email. "The good thing in the US is that people's memories are short and a ton of stuff is happening every day," he added. Voters began to become increasingly polarized toward Musk after his takeover of Twitter, Morning Consult US Politics Analyst Eli Yokley told Business Insider. Musk's closeness to Trump "poured fuel on the fire," which left his image in a much different state than some of his fellow tech moguls, who also sought to curry favor with the White House. "It weighs on him in a very unique way that other CEOs who have tried to kiss the ring a bit just haven't experienced to the same extent," Yokley told Business Insider. Musk's favorability isn't polled as frequently as someone like Trump. YouGov, which has sporadic data on Musk going back to 2018, found that immediately after the feud, Musk recorded his lowest net favorability in its records. The handful of post-feud polls that have been released show similar warning signs. Namely, many Republicans, who were once the bulwark for Musk's sagging numbers, no longer have such rosy views of the billionaire. An Economist-YouGov poll taken in the week after the feud found that Musk's net favorability among Republicans dropped 20 points. A Reuters-Ipsos poll found that he dropped 13 points in net favorability in a roughly one-month span. This embedded content is not available in your region. On June 22, Tesla began a limited rollout of its robotaxi service in Austin. The stock jumped as much as 11% the following day, though it had pared its gains by the end of the week. Overall, it's been a wild year for Tesla's share price. Musk is the face of Tesla, a close association that comes with some risk. Some analysts downgraded the company during his feud with Trump. "The recent incident between Musk and President Trump exemplifies key-person risk associated with Musk's political activities," Baird senior research analyst Ben Kallo wrote in a note earlier this month. Musk has signaled a retreat from politics, though whether he sticks by that commitment remains to be seen. Tesla is facing other challenges. In China, the newly announced Xiaomi YU7 is priced to compete with Tesla's popular Model Y, and Tesla's sales have fallen in key markets like Europe in recent months. The automaker is set to announce its second-quarter delivery numbers on Wednesday, and many analysts are expecting a year-over-year decrease. John Helveston, an assistant professor at George Washington University, told BI that Musk's "political unpopularity is very unhelpful" as the CEO looks to navigate Tesla through the challenges it's currently facing. "Elon Musk is strongest [indeed, world-class, second to none] when he focuses on his core competencies: solving 'impossible' engineering problems," Rothaermel said. "If I were on the board of directors at Tesla, that is what I would want him to focus on." The Morning Consult poll is based on data collected during the firm's tracking poll from June 20 to 22nd, based on a representative sample of 2,205 registered U.S. voters. The margin of error is +/- 2 percentage points. Smaller subsamples have a larger margin of error. Full results are available here. Read the original article on Business Insider Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
