For over 400 years, the large body of water that borders the U.S, Mexico and Cuba has been globally known as the “Gulf of Mexico.” However, within his first day of returning to office, President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order renaming the body of water to the “Gulf of America.”
The executive order went into effect on Feb. 7, with the purpose of “Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness.”
“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,” Trump said.
While the U.S. government now begins to recognize the new name put into place, the rest of the world has spoken out, still referring to it as the Gulf of Mexico. However certain map services like Google Maps have begun calling it the Gulf of America.
Since the renaming went into effect some Americans have struggled to see the purpose behind the name change. UTEP psychology student Maria Nava thinks that the name change shouldn’t have been a priority.
“To be honest, I think it was really unnecessary, especially since it’s something that only applies to the United States,” Nava said. “I think there’s other things that could be brought attention towards.”
However, there are those who have supported the “Gulf of America” and are backing Trump’s decision. U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene took to X, formally known as Twitter, to show her support for the recent name change.
Other Americans like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott have been able to find humor in the situation, even proposing the “Gulf of Texas” as a possible name for the body of water.
With this new name change from Trump, some news outlets have shared their stance on the matter. News outlets who have been accused of leaning towards conservative views like Fox News have stood by the president and will now use “Gulf of America” in its references. While others like The New York Times and Washington Post will still use “Gulf of Mexico” while giving mention of the recent name change.
Following this matter the Associated Press (AP) has stated that they will continue to use “Gulf of Mexico” in their references.
“As a global news agency that disseminates news around the world, the AP must ensure that place names and geography are easily recognizable to all audiences,” Amanda Barrett of the Associated Press said.
As a result of the actions taken by the AP, Trump has barred the news outlet from doing any reporting during his media availabilities. On Feb. 11, White House staff blocked an AP reporter from entering the Oval Office, and the following day a similar situation occurred during a swearing-in ceremony for Trump’s new director of national intelligence.
Following these events there are many journalists who see Trumps actions as a clear attack on journalism and find it violates freedom of press. Tom Jones, a senior media writer with the Poynter Institute, said he finds the situation to be ludicrous.
“What Trump and the White House did banning the AP was outrageous and not the type of thing done in a true democracy. It’s the type of thing done under dictatorships,” Jones said.
The barring of the Associated Press is still ongoing, and the stance is clear that the president will not allow the AP to do any reporting on presidential affairs so long as they do not change “Gulf of Mexico” to “Gulf of America” in their stylebook.
Joseph Montero is a staff reporter for The Prospector and may be reached at [email protected].
