President-elect Donald Trump wants the Gulf of Mexico to be known as the “Gulf of America.”
At a news conference Tuesday at Mar-a-Lago, Trump said he intended to make the change, but did not provide details on when or how he would make it.
“We are going to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Gulf of America, what a beautiful name,” he told reporters. “And that’s appropriate.”
“We’re going to change, because that’s where we do most of the work, and that’s ours,” he said.
Names of natural features in the United States are governed by the US Board of Geographic Names, a division of the US Geological Survey.
The board was established in 1890 and codified into its current form by public law in 1947 to maintain uniform use of geographic names across the federal government, according to its website.
As a general rule, the board “discourages name changes unless there is a compelling reason,” according to the agency.
Any person or group can propose a name change.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., posted on X shortly after Trump’s speech that she had directed staff to begin drafting legislation to change the name of the body of water.
The comments are the latest in a series of proposals floated by Trump regarding countries neighboring the United States, including the acquisition of Greenland, the resumption of the Panama Canal and the annexation of Canada.
NBC Chicago
