Google Maps bows to Donald Trump: Gulf of Mexico to be renamed Gulf of America in the United States

The web giant has decided, at the request of the new president of the United States, to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America on their site.

Under the influence of the decrees recently signed by Donald Trump, Google Maps is reshuffling the cards in the United States: the Gulf of Mexico will become the Gulf of America and Denali, the highest peak in North America, will once again become Mount McKinley.

“We usually apply name changes after they have been updated by official government sources”, a Google spokesperson said Monday. The tech giant added that the name changes align with geographic features as listed by the U.S. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).

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Google said users outside the U.S. will continue to see both the original and new names, as is the case for disputed locations. The new names follow executive orders signed by President Donald Trump since he returned to office.

See also: “The Gulf of America, what a pretty name” : Donald Trump proposes to rename the Gulf of Mexico, does he really have the power to do so ?

Diplomatic concerns

During his inaugural address on January 20, the Republican said he wanted to return Denali, the highest peak in North America located in Alaska (6,190 m), to its former name of Mount McKinley, changed in 2015 by President Barack Obama at the request of the indigenous populations. The measure has provoked criticism from indigenous groups in Alaska, who are arguing for the name Denali to be kept.

As for the Gulf of Mexico, which borders Mexico, the United States and Cuba, Mr. Trump called it “an indelible part of America” a few hours after his return to the White House. He considers it essential to U.S. oil production and fisheries and calls it “America's favorite destination for tourism and recreation.” The name was quickly adopted by the U.S. Coast Guard in a press release and by Florida's Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, whose state borders the body of water.

The new name has raised diplomatic concerns from Mexico and others in the country. In response to Donald Trump, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum proposed calling the United States “Mexican America”, in reference to a 17th-century map that shows much of the North American region under that name.