This follows an executive order Trump signed on his inauguration day, calling for the name change.
President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Sunday declaring Feb. 9 as “the first-ever Gulf of America Day,” following his executive order on Jan. 20 to rename the ocean basin previously known as the Gulf of Mexico.
Trump signed the proclamation while flying over the newly renamed gulf
aboard Air Force One during his trip to New Orleans to attend the Super Bowl.
“Today, I am making my first visit to the Gulf of America since its renaming,” the president stated in his
proclamation. “As my Administration restores American pride in the history of American greatness, it is fitting and appropriate for our great Nation to come together and commemorate this momentous occasion and the renaming of the Gulf of America.”
In his proclamation, the president called on “public officials and all the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.”
Interior Department Secretary Doug Burgum celebrated the name change on the social media platform X, saying that his department has taken actions to implement Trump’s executive order.
“It’s official! Congratulations @POTUS on the Gulf of America!” Burgum
stated. “Another big win for President Trump’s agenda to Make America Great Again.”
Trump signed an
executive order on his inauguration day on Jan. 20, in which he directed the Department of Interior to “take all appropriate actions” to rename the Gulf of Mexico to “Gulf of America” and change the name of Denali, the tallest mountain in North America, to “Mount McKinley” in honor of the 25th U.S. president, William McKinley.
The U.S. Coast Guard began referring to the waterway as the Gulf of America just a day after the executive order was issued,
pledging to increase its presence in several areas, including “the maritime border between Texas and Mexico in the Gulf of America,” as part of efforts to combat illegal migration and drug smuggling into the United States.
The Alaska Senate passed a
resolution in a 19–0 vote on Feb. 7 urging Trump to maintain Denali as the official name for North America’s tallest mountain. In his order, Trump said that he wanted to restore the Mount McKinley name to honor Mckinley’s “historic legacy of protecting America’s interests and generating enormous wealth for all Americans.”
“Denali is more than a mountain—it is a cornerstone of Alaska’s history, a tribute to our diverse culture, and a testament to the people who have cherished this land for millennia,” state Rep. Maxine Dibert, a Democrat who sponsored the resolution, said in a Jan. 28
statement.
Gold prospector William Dickey referred to the mountain as Mount McKinley in 1896, naming it after then-presidential candidate McKinley. The name was officially recognized as Mount McKinley by the federal government in 1917.
In March 1975, Alaska Gov. Jay Hammond asked the Interior Department to direct the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to change the mountain’s name to Denali, an Athabascan word that translates to “the great one” or “the high one.”
The 20,310-foot mountain was renamed Denali in honor of native Alaskans in 2015. According to Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell’s 2015
order, McKinley never visited the mountain and had no significant historical connection to either the mountain or Alaska.
The Interior Department has
backed Trump’s decision to rename the mountain as “a meaningful recognition of President McKinley’s enduring legacy.”
Google said on Jan. 28 that it will change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to “Gulf of America,” and rename Denali to “Mount McKinley” on Google Maps once the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is updated.
The name change would only be visible to users in the United States, the tech giant said. The name Gulf of Mexico will remain the same in Mexico, while users in other countries will see both names displayed on Google Maps.
