President of Mexico Claudia Sheinbaum has proposed a ‘nice’ name for the United States in rebuttal of Donald Trump’s changing of the Gulf’s title.
Within the first 24 hours of being sworn in as the President of the United States for the second time, Donald Trump wasted no time signing off on multiple executive orders including one about ‘restoring names that honor American greatness’ including changing the Gulf of Mexico’s name to ‘Gulf of America’.
The order saw Google comply with the name change, however, it’s been met with continued backlash from Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum.
The order suggested the Gulf of Mexico be renamed as ‘Gulf of America’ noting the area as being ‘an integral asset to our once burgeoning Nation and has remained an indelible part of America’ and ‘a crucial artery for America’s early trade and global commerce’.
Reflecting on its ‘remarkable body of water’ alongside ‘natural resources and wildlife’ and how it ‘will continue to play a pivotal role in shaping America’s future and the global economy,’ Trump resolved he would be ‘directing’ the Gulf be ‘officially renamed’ the Gulf of America.
Google revealed it would be abiding by Trump’s order to change the name although, the name you see upon searching depends on where you are in the world with ‘Maps users see their official local name’ and ‘everyone in the rest of the world sees both names’.
Sheinbaum responded to the executive order noting Trump can call the Gulf whatever he likes but for Mexico and ‘for the entire world’ it would always be known as the ‘Gulf of Mexico’.
And at a news conference on Wednesday (January 29), she jokingly suggested the United States be renamed ‘Mexican America’.
Standing in front of a map of North and South America from 1607 and pointing to areas which are now known as part of the US, the Mexican president said: “The United Nations recognizes the name Gulf of Mexico, but next, why don’t we call it Mexican America? It sounds nice doesn’t it?
“Since 1607, the constitution of Apatzingan was Mexican America. So, let’s call it Mexican Americana?”
In a letter to Google about its agreement to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico, Sheinbaum argued, as quoted by USA Today: “If a country wants to change the designation of something in the sea, it would only apply up to 12 nautical miles. It cannot apply to the rest, in this case, the Gulf of Mexico. This is what we explained in detail to Google.”
Going back to her joke about suggesting the US be renamed ‘Mexican America’ Sheinbaum reportedly added to Google: “We ask that when you put Mexican America in the search engine, the map appears that we presented.”
