‘What a beautiful name’: Trump seriously wants to rename the Gulf of Mexico

In an unprecedented move, President-elect Donald Trump expressed his desire to rename the Gulf of Mexico. While inconsequential at best, this decision from Trump appears to be another show of power against Mexico.

Trump announced his contentious decision in a press conference at Mar-a-Lago. The president-elect then put forth the narrative that Mexico was dangerous but always aided by the United States. Trump claimed, “We’re going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which has a beautiful ring that covers a lot of territory. The Gulf of America. What a beautiful name. And it’s appropriate.” Trump went further to criticize border crossing from Mexico to the United States. “And Mexico has to stop allowing millions of people to pour into our country.”

Many pundits of Trump supported this bold declaration. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene claimed that she will be introducing legislation “ASAP” to get started with the Gulf of Mexico’s name change. Users who identify as part of Trump’s MAGA base on X are ecstatic over his decision. This doesn’t mean everyone is praising Trump’s strange announcement. A commenter on YouTube called Trump’s declaration “the greatest SNL sketch” they had ever seen. Another X user sarcastically wrote, “Will this lower the price of eggs?”

Undoubtedly, there isn’t anything to be gained in renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America.” It’s also a coin toss as to whether or not Cuba and Mexico would acknowledge Trump’s decision for a name change—two countries that the United States shares the Gulf of Mexico with. Ultimately, renaming the Gulf of Mexico is nothing more than flagrant pageantry from Trump to assert the Gulf of Mexico with. Ultimately, renaming the Gulf of Mexico is nothing more than flagrant pageantry to assert regional dominance on paper. This is the kind of stuff Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy should be up in arms against in their DOGE project.

Although risqué, this shouldn’t be the focus for those concerned with Trump’s expansionist tendency. In December 2024, Trump threatened to reassert control over the Panama Canal. Recently, Trump has also repeatedly conveyed his interest in purchasing Greenland to be part of the United States.

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Vanessa Esguerra

Vanessa Esguerra (She/They) has been a Contributing Writer for The Mary Sue since 2023. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Economy, she (happily) rejected law school in 2021 and has been a full-time content writer since. Vanessa is currently taking her Master's degree in Japanese Studies in hopes of deepening her understanding of the country's media culture in relation to pop culture, women, and queer people like herself. She speaks three languages but still manages to get lost in the subways of Tokyo with her clunky Japanese. Fueled by iced coffee brewed from local cafés in Metro Manila, she also regularly covers anime and video games while queuing for her next match in League of Legends.

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