Latest news with #U.S.BoardonGeographicNames
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
House to vote on bill to codify Trump's Gulf of America executive order
WASHINGTON — The Republican-led House is expected to vote Thursday on legislation that would make President Donald Trump's renaming of the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America federal law. Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene of Georgia introduced the GOP bill after Trump signed an executive order in January that ordered Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to 'take all appropriate actions to rename the Gulf' and update a database of the 'official names for geographic features in the 50 states.' While Trump does not need congressional approval to ensure the name change is reflected across the federal government, the bill would prevent a future president from easily reversing the move through executive action. 'As the previous administration made it painfully clear, executive orders can be undone and overwritten, and that's why we have to move it through the legislative process — and we are,' House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters Tuesday. 'We're going to pass Marjorie Taylor Greene's bill to permanently rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America.' It is unclear whether Republicans have enough backing to pass the bill. Assuming all Democrats oppose it, Republicans can afford to lose only four votes — and at least one Republican has already made his opposition clear. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., said Tuesday that he plans to vote "no," calling the legislative effort "juvenile." 'We're the United States of America. We're not Kaiser Wilhelm's Germany or Napoleon's France. I just — we're better than this. It just sounds like a sophomore thing to do," Bacon told CNN. Greene suggested that Bacon might not be the only Republican detractor. "Some of my Republican colleagues don't want to vote for my Gulf of America Act which is one of President Trump's favorite executive orders," she wrote Wednesday on X. "They say they would rather vote on 'more serious EOs.'" In addition to codifying the name change, the Gulf of America Act would direct the chairman of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to ensure that 'any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, or other record of the United States to the Gulf of Mexico' is deemed a reference to the Gulf of America. Should it become law, federal agency heads would have 180 days to ensure agency-specific records are updated to reflect the name change, as well. The measure is unlikely to get enough Democratic support in the Senate to overcome procedural hurdles if it makes it through the House. Some of Trump's other efforts to rename landmarks have drawn Republican opposition, as well. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska fiercely criticized Trump's decision to revert the name of Mount Denali in her home state to Mount McKinley in the same executive order as the Gulf of America renaming. Murkowski introduced legislation in February that would officially require the mountain to be recognized "by its true name," Denali. Democrats have roundly criticized Greene's bill, with House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar of California framing the vote as a waste of time and resources. "House Republicans should use this time, this free week that they have, to vote on policy that matters for everyday Americans," Aguilar said at a news conference Tuesday. "But instead, we're talking about Marjorie Taylor Greene's bill to rename the Gulf of Mexico — a slap in the face to hard-working Americans who want their leaders to bring down the cost of living." Trump touted his effort to rename the Gulf at a rally in Michigan commemorating the first 100 days of his second term, telling supporters that he has become "very unpopular in Mexico" because of the name change. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has repeatedly dismissed Trump's order, insisting that her government will continue to refer to the Gulf by its historic name. The Associated Press' refusal to refer to the Gulf solely as the Gulf of America made it a top target of the White House, which for months denied it access to certain events and barred its reporters from traveling with Trump, prompting a legal challenge. A federal judge ordered the White House in April to stop sidelining the AP, calling it "contrary to the First Amendment" and directing the administration to "put the AP on an equal playing field as similarly situated outlets, despite the AP's use of disfavored terminology." Trump indicated Wednesday that another name change could be on the horizon. He said that he was considering a plan to begin calling the Persian Gulf the Arabian Gulf and that he will make the decision ahead of a trip next week to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. "They're going to ask me about that when I that when I get there, and I'll have to make a decision," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "I guess a lot of people get ideas from us." Jamal Abdi, president of the National Iranian American Council, said that if Trump were to officially rename the Persian Gulf, he would erase "the identity of an entire region." 'The Persian Gulf is not just a name on a map — it's a reflection of a shared and ancient history that cannot and should not be erased to appease narrow political interests or provoke tensions," Abdi said in a statement. This article was originally published on
NBC News
08-05-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
House to vote on bill to codify Trump's Gulf of America executive order
WASHINGTON — The Republican-led House is expected to vote Thursday on legislation that would make President Donald Trump 's renaming of the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America federal law. Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene of Georgia introduced the GOP bill after Trump signed an executive order in January that ordered Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to 'take all appropriate actions to rename the Gulf' and update a database of the 'official names for geographic features in the 50 states.' While Trump does not need congressional approval to ensure the name change is reflected across the federal government, the bill would prevent a future president from easily reversing the move through executive action. 'As the previous administration made it painfully clear, executive orders can be undone and overwritten, and that's why we have to move it through the legislative process — and we are,' House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters Tuesday. 'We're going to pass Marjorie Taylor Greene's bill to permanently rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America.' It is unclear whether Republicans have enough backing to pass the bill. Assuming all Democrats oppose it, Republicans can afford to lose only four votes — and at least one Republican has already made his opposition clear. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., said Tuesday that he plans to vote "no," calling the legislative effort "juvenile." 'We're the United States of America. We're not Kaiser Wilhelm's Germany or Napoleon's France. I just — we're better than this. It just sounds like a sophomore thing to do," Bacon told CNN. Greene suggested that Bacon might not be the only Republican detractor. "Some of my Republican colleagues don't want to vote for my Gulf of America Act which is one of President Trump's favorite executive orders," she wrote Wednesday on X. "They say they would rather vote on 'more serious EOs.'" In addition to codifying the name change, the Gulf of America Act would direct the chairman of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to ensure that 'any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, or other record of the United States to the Gulf of Mexico' is deemed a reference to the Gulf of America. Should it become law, federal agency heads would have 180 days to ensure agency-specific records are updated to reflect the name change, as well. The measure is unlikely to get enough Democratic support in the Senate to overcome procedural hurdles if it makes it through the House. Some of Trump's other efforts to rename landmarks have drawn Republican opposition, as well. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska fiercely criticized Trump's decision to revert the name of Mount Denali in her home state to Mount McKinley in the same executive order as the Gulf of America renaming. Murkowski introduced legislation in February that would officially require the mountain to be recognized "by its true name," Denali. Democrats have roundly criticized Greene's bill, with House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar of California framing the vote as a waste of time and resources. "House Republicans should use this time, this free week that they have, to vote on policy that matters for everyday Americans," Aguilar said at a news conference Tuesday. "But instead, we're talking about Marjorie Taylor Greene's bill to rename the Gulf of Mexico — a slap in the face to hard-working Americans who want their leaders to bring down the cost of living." Trump touted his effort to rename the Gulf at a rally in Michigan commemorating the first 100 days of his second term, telling supporters that he has become "very unpopular in Mexico" because of the name change. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has repeatedly dismissed Trump's order, insisting that her government will continue to refer to the Gulf by its historic name. The Associated Press' refusal to refer to the Gulf solely as the Gulf of America made it a top target of the White House, which for months denied it access to certain events and barred its reporters from traveling with Trump, prompting a legal challenge. A federal judge ordered the White House in April to stop sidelining the AP, calling it "contrary to the First Amendment" and directing the administration to "put the AP on an equal playing field as similarly situated outlets, despite the AP's use of disfavored terminology." Trump indicated Wednesday that another name change could be on the horizon. He said that he was considering a plan to begin calling the Persian Gulf the Arabian Gulf and that he will make the decision ahead of a trip next week to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. "They're going to ask me about that when I that when I get there, and I'll have to make a decision," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "I guess a lot of people get ideas from us." Jamal Abdi, president of the National Iranian American Council, said that if Trump were to officially rename the Persian Gulf, he would erase "the identity of an entire region." 'The Persian Gulf is not just a name on a map — it's a reflection of a shared and ancient history that cannot and should not be erased to appease narrow political interests or provoke tensions," Abdi said in a statement.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Gulf of Mexico name change for Florida textbooks and laws signed. When will it happen?
And with a stroke of the pen, Florida became the first state to officially recognize "Gulf of America" as the name of the body of water off the western coast bordering nearly half of the state. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday signed two bills (HB 575, HB 549) that rename what's currently still known as the Gulf of Mexico in state law and public school textbooks. The move is a response to President Donald Trump's day-one executive order, "Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness," to change the name of the Gulf and rename Denali, a mountain in Alaska, back to Mount McKinley. DeSantis was also the first to use "Gulf of America" in any official capacity when he referred to it in an order concerning the freak winter storm that shattered Florida's 130-year-old snow records just hours after Trump's directive in January. Here's what to know. Under HB 575, The Designation of the Gulf of Mexico, all references in Florida statutes to the Gulf of Mexico must be changed to Gulf of America. It's a long list, as it includes 53 different mentions, including all descriptions of boundary lines for Florida counties bordering the Gulf, references to tourist development taxes, coastal construction regulations, property rights regulations, beach management, the definition of "coastal barrier islands." tax regulations for oil drilling aznd more. A tongue-in-cheek amendment to the bill from Rep. Dr. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, to instead change the name of the Gulf to the Gulf of Endor — with requirements for other landmarks to also be renamed after other "Star Wars" locations — was not added or we might have seen the Grand Canyon renamed "Sarlacc Pit," Las Vegas now called "Mos Eisley" and Interstate 4 changed to the "Kessel Run." The changes to state law will take effect on July 1, 2025. Under HB 549: Gulf of America, all state agencies must update their geographic materials to use the new name. Initially, that would have meant all existing school books and educational materials, but an amendment changed that to require the new name in all instructional materials and library media collections adopted or acquired on or after July 1, so schools have some time. On January 20, the first day of his second term, Trump directed the secretary of the interior to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America' for use on official maps and throughout the federal government. This is ordinarily at least a six-month process, but it was fast-tracked by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names and quickly adopted by Google Maps, Apple Maps and others. Once it was changed, Trump issued a proclamation declaring Feb. 9 to be "Gulf of America Day." "The area formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico has long been an integral asset to our once burgeoning Nation and has remained an indelible part of America," the order said. It didn't receive universal acceptance. MapQuest allowed users to name the Gulf whatever they wanted and the order was mocked by Democrats, late night hosts and on social media. The Associated Press, a worldwide news organization, announced that its widely used style guide would continue to refer to the Gulf as the "Gulf of Mexico" since it shares borders with another country and has been called that for more than 400 years. The Trump administration reacted by barring its reporters from events. AP sued, and last week, a federal judge ordered the White House to lift its access restrictions. Other countries are not obligated to honor the new name. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo mocked the suggestion at the time, suggesting the United States should be called "Mexican America." However, recognizing the new name is likely to be a sticking point for countries hoping to deal diplomatically with the Trump administration. Trump is not the first to suggest it. In 2012, former U.S. Rep. D. Stephen Holland of Mississippi proposed a bill to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to "Gulf of America." He meant it as a joke, to mock his Republican colleagues he said seemed to want to push anything or anyone Mexican out of the state. Two years previously, when he was on "The Colbert Report," late night host Steven Colbert created a "Gulf of America" fund to help clean up after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster dumped 210 million gallons across nearly 60,000 square miles of the Gulf over a period of four months in 2010. "I don't think we can call it the Gulf of Mexico anymore," he said at the time. "We broke it, we bought it." More than half of Florida's coast borders the Gulf of Mexico, a partially landlocked body of water between the United States and Mexico that links ports in five Southern states and Mexico with the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean with two passages — called the Florida Straits — on either side of Cuba and the Yucatan Channel between Mexico and Cuba. The Gulf has an average depth of 5,300 feet. The Gulf mainland shore runs more than 4,000 miles from the Florida Keys to Cabo Catoche on the Yucatán Peninsula. Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas all share the coast, along with the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Vera Cruz, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán, and Quintana Roo. While existing residents certainly knew about it and had their own names, the first European to find the Gulf was Sebastián de Ocampo in 1508-1509, according to the Texas State Historical Association. It remained unnamed until the early 1540s and was considered part of the "North Sea" (Atlantic Ocean). One map dated 1584 called it "Mare de Nort," or "Sea of the North." Baptiste Boazio, the illustrator and map maker of Francis Drake's Caribbean cruise of attacks in the 1580s, used "Gulf of Mexico" on his map "View of Entire Route of Sir Francis Drake's West Indian Voyage." A 1630 map called the body of water "Gulf of New Spain." The Spanish name evolved into Seno Mexicano. "Seno" means "gulf" or "bay." It has also been called Golfo de Nueva España and Golfo de México on various maps and documents, and there are at least 32 different versions of the name in different languages and dialects, according to the United States Geological Survey. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Gulf of America now official name in Florida. When do books change?
Los Angeles Times
19-02-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Column: The real motive behind Trump renaming the Gulf of Mexico to ‘Gulf of America'
Before President Trump, the most high-profile call to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico came from Stephen Colbert, who joked on his Comedy Central show in 2010 that the body of water should be referred to as the Gulf of America in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill because 'we broke it, we bought it.' Almost 15 years later, it could have been worse: Trump could have decreed the Gulf of Mexico be renamed the Gulf of MAGA. (Don't anyone give him any ideas!) But Trump's arrival at changing the name to the Gulf of America retains none of the jocular tinge of Colbert's sarcastic suggestion. When William Nericcio first heard about Trump's executive order to do just that, the San Diego State English professor dismissed it as 'a big publicity stunt to mask more nefarious stuff.' It certainly was received that way in the weeks leading up to Inauguration Day, when Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum reacted to news of Trump's plans by suggesting the American Southwest, which belonged to Mexico until the 1848 Mexican-American War, be renamed 'América Mexicana.' The laughs continued as Trump mentioned the Gulf of America during his inaugural address, then signed the change into law along with 25 other executive orders that included a ban on birthright citizenship, withdrawing from the Paris climate accords and ending all federal diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, programs. Rebranding the body of water bounded by the U.S., Mexico and Cuba as the Gulf of America — which Trump justified by stating in his order it 'has long been an integral asset to our once burgeoning Nation and has remained an indelible part of America' — was seen as a random piffle, namely because cartographers and governments across the world have used 'Gulf of Mexico' for nearly 475 years. But the more that Nericcio thought about a gesture he felt was 'straight out of Barnum & Bailey,' the more he began to worry. He's the author of 'Tex[t]-Mex: Seductive Hallucinations of the 'Mexican' in American,' a hilarious yet insightful 2007 book abut the history of anti-Mexican sentiment in the United States. It tracks the depiction of Mexicans in popular culture through postcards depicting the Mexican Revolution, Hollywood stereotypes, racist songs and more — efforts Nericcio argued have fueled anti-Mexican laws and sentiment in this country for decades. 'The speaking of the Spanish language on Mexican soil can trigger the most jingoistic attitudes,' Nericcio told me, 'so why not pave over five centuries of history and call it the Gulf of America?' He fretted as Trump declared Feb. 9 to be Gulf of America Day, saying it was part of restoring 'American pride in the history of American greatness,' and as the U.S. Board on Geographic Names officially complied with Trump's order and announced all federal agencies were 'currently in the process of updating their maps, products, and services to reflect the Gulf of America name change.' Nericcio groaned when the White House blocked Associated Press reporters from the Oval Office in retaliation for the news organization — whose style guide is regarded as the gold standard in American journalism, including by the L.A. Times — announcing they would continue to use 'Gulf of Mexico' in its stories while acknowledging Trump's name change. But what put the profe in full despair mode was when Apple and Google updated their map services last week so that American users will now see 'Gulf of America.' The decision prompted the Mexican government to write a letter to Google stating that 'under no circumstance will Mexico accept the renaming of a geographic zone within its own territory and under its jurisdiction,' and threatening a lawsuit. Nericcio is usually quick to a bon mot, but his worrisome tone when we talked was something I had never heard in the 15 years we've known each other. 'We know the history of America is empire, but this is America dropping its pants and showing its empire tattoos,' he said. 'It's bald, naked imperialism, and it's on the order of Stalin.' It's easy to dismiss Nericcio as a wild-eyed academic wokoso, but he's not wrong at all. The name change isn't a punchline or weird Trump quirk a la ketchup on steak or his weak-salsa YMCA dance. It's indicative of a commander in chief hellbent on continuing his efforts at a modern-day Manifest Destiny against our ultimate frenemy in any way, shape or form. Trump is convinced the American public will largely accept anything he does against Mexico, because guess what? It's just Mexico. Critics and supporters have long said to take Trump at his word, and few things have shown this to be truer than his vendetta against against the country of my parents. It was right there in the speech announcing his first successful presidential run a decade ago this June, when he descended down a golden staircase at his Manhattan tower like the decrepit yet all-powerful Padishah Emperor in the 'Dune' franchise. Within the opening three minutes of his speech, Trump uttered the line: 'When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. … They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.' That's the viral part of his anti-Mexican screed. But there was more. Trump mentioned Mexico 13 times in that speech, his pronunciation dripping with disdain every time. He promised to build a 'great, great wall' to seal it off from us, and labeled our southern neighbor 'the new China.' He whined that Mexico is 'laughing at us, at our stupidity. And now they are beating us economically. They are not our friend, believe me. But they're killing us economically.' So much bile against our second-largest trading partner and the ancestral country of millions of American citizens — and yet the crowd cheered him on. Trump has kept to his saber-rattling words. He has never ceased to describe people crossing into this country from Mexico as an 'invasion,' and is vowing to severely limit legal migration and deport immigrants in the country without legal documentation in a way this country has never seen. He's still threatening to impose steep tariffs against Mexico, while his team is salivating at the idea of channeling their inner Gen. Pershing and launching military incursions into the country under the guise of combating drug cartels. Last month, Defense secretary Pete Hegseth told Fox News that 'all options will be on the table.' Wiping off the Gulf of Mexico from U.S. maps isn't a lark; it's a promise of more to come. It's a move out of the Latin American strongmen that have long plagued the Western Hemisphere but now have an eager copycat at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. I asked Nericcio to find a silver lining in all this, or at least advice on how to fight back. 'We don't own the engines of legitimacy and power — unfortunately, he does,' Nericcio replied. 'We're speaking in the past tense, Gustavo. It's done.' He laid out the following scenario: the next time American schoolchildren have to do a geography assignment involving the Gulf of Mexico, they'll look up the maps of Google, Apple or websites run by the federal government. 'They'll see Gulf of America and think, 'Oh, that's the right answer for my homework because the Internet says so. And voila, you now have a whole generation calling it by a name with no historical basis.' Nericcio sounded forlorn. 'What gets me is the anemic pushback. Anemic. Almost like, 'Yes, daddy.' It's like watching a movie with a supervillain who keeps winning and winning, and I don't think this one's going to have a happy ending.'
Yahoo
15-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘The Gulf of America' Is the Wrong Fight to Pick
The executive order rechristening the body of water known internationally as the 'Gulf of Mexico' is not an easy document to take seriously. Portions of it read like a child's research paper: 'The Gulf is also home to vibrant American fisheries teeming with snapper, shrimp, grouper, stone crab, and other species.' The import of this and other facts is never quite explained. Perhaps the snapper will taste better now that it comes from the 'Gulf of America.' So, no, this is not a serious document. Is it an illegitimate one? The Associated Press, one of the world's premier news-gathering organizations, appears to think so. Last month, a few days after Donald Trump issued the order, the AP announced that it would continue using the name 'Gulf of Mexico.' This week, the Trump administration retaliated by barring the AP's reporters from covering White House events, placing the agency in an unenviable bind. The AP argues, convincingly, that denying access to a media outlet because of its choice of words violates the First Amendment. To cave now would be to surrender on the constitutional issue. But this is a fight that Trump is clearly happy to have—especially to the extent that it draws attention away from his more egregious affronts to the public interest and the rule of law. And it's a fight that the AP probably should never have picked in the first place. A huge share of Trump's actions over the past four weeks fall somewhere on the spectrum from 'legally questionable' to 'plainly unconstitutional.' The 'Gulf of America' rebrand is not one of them. A federal law passed in 1890 and updated in 1947 empowers the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to 'standardize' how the federal government refers to places. The board answers to the secretary of the interior, who answers to the president. That's the same legal authority under which the Obama administration changed the name 'Mt. McKinley' to 'Denali.' [David Frum: The 'Gulf of America' is an admission of defeat] In fact, if Barack Obama hadn't done that, we probably wouldn't be talking about the body of water between Mexico and Florida today. In physics, every action generates an equal and opposite reaction. In the Trump era, every progressive action generates an opposite MAGA reaction—but not an equal one. Trump's executive order on 'Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness' began by changing 'Denali' back to 'Mt. McKinley.' Then, like an infomercial pitchman—but wait, there's more—Trump tossed in the 'Gulf of America' change, almost as a bonus. Substantively, the stunt has nothing in common with the Obama administration's decision on Mt. McKinley. The state of Alaska formally requested the change back in 1975, hardly a time of rampant woke excess, on the basis that 'Denali'—the mountain's historic name, still widely used by Alaskans—was a much better fit than 'Mt. McKinley,' after a president who had never set foot in the state. Still, at a certain level of abstraction, Trump's campaign to rename (and re-rename) mountains, gulfs, and military bases follows the same logic as the progressive version. Renaming a base named for a Confederate general, or a school named for a racist ex-president, is a declaration that values have changed since the days when those names were seen as acceptable. But in a democracy, values are determined by majority rule, and they don't shift in only one direction. They can shift back. The more that politicians mess around with place names, the more important it becomes for avowedly apolitical institutions to respond according to consistent principles. This is not so easy to do. In its style-guide update, the AP said that it would continue using 'Gulf of Mexico' because the Gulf is an international body of water that has been known by that name for 400 years. 'As a global news agency that disseminates news around the world,' it said, 'the AP must ensure that place names and geography are easily recognizable to all audiences.' It would, however, honor the change back to 'Mt. McKinley' because, it said, 'the area lies solely in the United States and as president, Trump has the authority to change federal geographical names within the country.' (The Atlantic's style guide matches the AP's on this matter.) But the federal law giving Trump the power to rename Denali applies explicitly 'to both domestic and foreign geographic names.' If the AP is going to follow the federal government's legally valid naming conventions, then it should go along with 'Gulf of America' by default, no matter how stupid it sounds. Carving an exception because of the Gulf's 400-year history is arbitrary—the same sort of appeal to tradition that reactionaries make to prevent progressive-coded changes. Why, indeed, should modern society continue to honor a name imposed by Spanish conquistadors? Nor is it uncommon for different countries to call a shared body of water by different names: What Americans call the 'Rio Grande,' Mexicans call the 'Rio Bravo.' This has not caused any kind of breakdown of the collective geographic imagination. News organizations routinely change how they refer to places, and many of these decisions carry the whiff of politics. In 2019, the AP announced that the Ukrainian city of Kiev would henceforth be spelled 'Kyiv.' (Chicken Kiev would remain untouched.) 'To many Ukrainians,' the AP explained, 'the former spelling Kiev appears outdated because it is associated with a time when Ukraine was part of the Russian and Soviet states, rather than an independent country.' That is a perfectly understandable reason for making the change, but it is also, on its face, a political one. By contrast, news organizations have resisted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's request to refer to his country as 'Türkiye'—even after the U.S. State Department agreed to do so in 2023. [Read: A Super Bowl spectacle over the gulf] These sorts of principled judgments are, as I said, hard to make. Trump makes them harder still by blowing past all standards of reasonableness or good faith, leaving high-minded institutions struggling to adapt. Even the best-designed rules break down when one side starts playing a completely different game. What if our president had decided to call it the 'Gulf of Trump'? What if he had tried to rename the Atlantic Ocean? The man forces us to contemplate the previously unthinkable, because there is no norm or tradition that he won't abrogate. For 134 years, 'follow the Board on geographic names' was a simple, commonsense rule to follow. Then Trump got his hands on the Board. None of this means that the Gulf of Mexico is now actually the Gulf of America in any kind of objective or even linguistic sense. Trump controls the Department of the Interior but not the English language. More than 12 years after it was renamed for Governor Hugh L. Carey, New Yorkers still refer to the passage between Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn as the 'Battery Tunnel.' Washington, D.C.'s airport was named for Ronald Reagan in 1998; many if not most residents still call it 'National.' The American people can decide for themselves whether to go with the 'Gulf of Mexico' or the 'Gulf of America.' And if you ever find yourself at a loss, here's a tip: You can always just call it the 'Gulf.' Article originally published at The Atlantic
