On January 20th, 2025, President Donald Trump signed 26 executive orders to start his second term. For reference, President Trump signed only 33 executive orders during the first 100 days of his first term. Among these 26 orders was an executive order titled “Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness”, or Executive Order 14170. This infamous action ordered that The Gulf of Mexico be renamed “The Gulf of America” on all American maps. Furthermore, it was ordered that Mount Denali, the highest peak in North America, be renamed “Mount McKinley”. While these orders may seem straightforward, the process is much more complicated (CNN).
The main complication in this order is that the President does not hold the power to change the name of geographic landmarks. However, the executive order exercises its right to direct the Secretary of the Interior, a position appointed by the President, to make an effort to change the names. While the Senate continues to work on confirming a Secretary of the Interior for the Trump Administration, Dr. Walter Cruickshank acts as the sitting secretary. Dr. Cruickshank has worked for the Department of the Interior for more than 35 years, and has made it abundantly clear he will make no effort to change the names, even stating that “changing an existing name merely to correct or re-establish historical usage should not be a primary reason to change a name” (USA Today).
The Gulf of Mexico’s name dates back to 1550, when an early map of the Americas referred to it as “Golfo de México”. Throughout the 1600s and 1700s, the name was referred to mostly by its Mexican border, such as “The Great Bay of Mexico” or “The Mexican Cove”. The rationale behind this is that the majority of the Gulf’s 3,500-mile coast borders Mexico. On the other hand, Mount Mckinley/Denali has an even more complicated name history. The mountain was first referred to by “McKinley” in 1896 after its discovery by European colonizers. The US Government officially named it “Mount McKinley” in 1917 in honor of the late President William McKinley, who was president during the discovery of the mountain until his assassination 5 years later. In 1975 the Alaskan Government petitioned the National Government to rename the mountain to Denali in respect of the Koyukon people who occupy the area. However, the change was blocked by Ohio delegates because President McKinley was an Ohioan. In 2015, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell officially changed the name back to Denali in all federal documents. One month later, President Obama announced the official name change of the mountain to Denali, which has stood true for almost ten years.
During a speech declaring a state of emergency, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis first referred to the Gulf by the new name. The New York Times reported Governor DeSantis that “an area of low pressure moving across the Gulf of America, interacting with Arctic air, will bring widespread impactful weather to North Florida beginning Tuesday.” The reference brought mixed emotions from Floridians, with some being delighted to hear the change being used while others are unhappy with the Governor’s misplaced attention during an emergency. Moreover, On January 28th, Google announced that US users of their map sites would see these changes implemented (CNN). Both Mount Denali and the Gulf of Mexico will be renamed on their maps to abide by the order. However, other map and navigation sites such as Apple Maps, Life360, and Waze have not made the change nor reported any plan to do so.
Similar political uproar has occurred with the “Sea of Japan” or the “South China Sea” have each been campaigned to be renamed the “East Sea” and “West Philippines Sea” respectively. Despite this, these efforts have remained unsuccessful and it becomes more clear that the widely accepted names of geographic landmarks are very difficult to change. This may be indicative that the future of the “Gulf of America” and “Mount Mckinley” is unlikely.
References
Denali or Mount McKinley? – Denali National Park & Preserve (U.S. National Park Service). (2016). Nps.gov. https://www.nps.gov/dena/learn/historyculture/denali-origins.htm
Elkind, E., Phillips, M., Staff, F. N., Hagstrom, A., Spady, A., Deppisch, B., Colton, E., McFall, C., Joseph, J., & Creitz, C. (2025, January 21). A look at President Trump’s first full day in the White House. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/live-news/a-look-at-president-trump-s-first-full-day-in-the-white-house
Elser Miami. (2024, October 14). Elser Hotel | Luxury Hotel in Heart of Downtown Miami. https://www.theelserhotel.com/blog/history-of-the-gulf-of-mexico-name/
Karni, A. (2025, January 21). DeSantis Adopts “Gulf of America” Language Even Before a Trump Order. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/20/us/politics/desantis-gulf-of-america-executive-order-trump.html
Valinsky, J. (2025, January 28). Google Maps will change the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/28/tech/google-maps-gulf-of-mexico-america/index.html
