Part of Donald Trump’s long list of day one executive orders is a pair of controversial name changes.
Trump is set to rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” and revert Alaska’s Mt. Denali back to its previous name of Mount McKinley, the New York Post reported.
A preview of the orders said the immediate change is to honor “American greatness.”
Trump, 78, is expected to sign off on nearly 200 executive actions by the end of his first day in office. It is the latest proof he plans to flex his power immediately in his second term after he won the popular vote and swept all seven swing states.
The renaming of the gulf was first rolled out by Trump on Jan. 7 in a rambling press conference where he also remarked that Mexico “is controlled by drug cartels.” The natural feature, which makes up the coastline in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and western Florida, has been called the Gulf of Mexico since the 16th century.
Trump’s renaming effort—and his digs at the U.S. southern neighbor—drew the ire of Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum, who countered that North of America should be renamed “América Mexicana,” or “Mexican America.”
Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum shows a 1661 world map showing the Americas and the Gulf of Mexico in response to Donald Trump’s comments about renaming the body of water. / Presidencia de Mexico / via REUTERS
“Why don’t we call it Mexican America?” Sheinbaum said at a news conference of her own. “It sounds pretty, no?”
The renaming of Denali, meanwhile, is a rollback on a Barack Obama effort from 2015 that was intended to honor the native Koyukon people. Prior to that, the mountain—the highest-peaked on the continent at 20,310 feet above sea level—was named after the 25th U.S. president, William McKinley.
It is Obama’s executive action to rename Denali that sets a precedent for Trump’s pair of name changes. Experts have reminded, however, that other countries may not opt to recognize the name change for an international body of water. It is probably safe to assume Mexico is among those that will not.
