President Donald Trump made an unexpected promise during his inaugural address last month, vowing to officially rename two notable landmarks as part of his initial barrage of executive orders.
“America will reclaim its rightful place as the greatest, most powerful, most respected nation on earth, inspiring the awe and admiration of the entire world,” he said. “A short time from now, we are going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, and we will restore the name of a great president, William McKinley, to Mount McKinley, where it should be and where it belongs.”
On Sunday, Trump made a point of signing his proclamation midflight as he traveled above this body of water en route to New Orleans to attend the Super Bowl. Trump declared February 9 Gulf of America Day as he sat beside a large map displaying the new name in bold letters.
Yet a majority of Americans appear not to be picking up what the president is putting down. A Marquette University poll released Wednesday found that 71 percent of respondents opposed renaming the Gulf of Mexico with only 29 percent saying they were in favor of the change. A YouGov poll taken just days after Trump was sworn in found similar results with only 28 percent of people surveyed supporting the switch. A Harvard CAPS–Harris poll from January found that 72 percent of registered voters were against adopting the “Gulf of America” name with 28 percent backing it.
Parts of the private sector have moved to embrace the “Gulf of America” moniker. On Monday, Google announced it had officially introduced the new name in the U.S.-facing version of Google Maps. Per the press release, users in Mexico will continue to see the “Gulf of Mexico” labeling, while other nations will see both names. Apple and Microsoft have since followed suit. The companies have cited the U.S. Geographic Names Information System’s making the change official and their standard practice of adhering to the government’s position on names.
Despite a lack of public support, the Trump administration has signaled it will not tolerate dissent on the name change. The Associated Press, considered the standard-bearer for journalistic writing and editing style, said it would continue to use “Gulf of Mexico” in its articles while referencing Trump’s executive order. On Tuesday, the AP issued a statement alleging that one of its reporters had been barred from a White House event this week over that decision.
“It is alarming that the Trump administration would punish AP for its independent journalism. Limiting our access to the Oval Office based on the content of AP’s speech not only severely impedes the public’s access to independent news, it plainly violates the First Amendment,” AP executive editor Julie Pace wrote.
As for Alaska’s Mount Denali, Trump’s push to restore the namesake of President McKinley has received intense pushback by state politicians including congressional Republicans. Last week, the Alaska legislature passed a resolution urging Trump to keep “Denali,” the historic name used in the region until the late 1800s.
