President-elect Donald Trump said he wants to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America” during a wide-ranging press conference on Tuesday.
“We’re going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the ‘Gulf of America,’” he said. “The ‘Gulf of America,’ what a beautiful name.”
The idea appeared to be gaining traction with members of Congress almost immediately. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) announced on on X that she would quickly introduce a bill renaming the Gulf of Mexico following Trump’s remarks.
“President Trump’s second term is off to a GREAT start,” she wrote. “I’ll be introducing legislation ASAP to officially change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to its rightful name, the Gulf of America!”
Rep. Randy Weber (R-TX) also endorsed the rebrand, writing on X, “Let’s do it. Gulf of America > Gulf of Mexico.”
The Gulf of Mexico is surrounded mostly by North America. The southwest and south are covered by Mexico and Cuba. The Gulf remained nameless until the early 1540s, according to the Texas State Historical Association. In 2012, A Mississippi state representative introduced a bill to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America,” but the legislation died in committee.
Trump made the comment about the name change after complaining that the U.S. has a large trade deficit with both Mexico and Canada, vowing to impose tariffs on both countries.
Since his election win, Trump has voiced his interest in adding land to the United States. He mentioned retaking the Panama Canal, merging Canada into the country, and purchasing Greenland. During his press conference, he refused to rule out using military force to reclaim the Panama Canal, though he said the military wouldn’t be involved in any annexation effort of Canada.
Trump announces the name of the Gulf of Mexico will be changed to ‘Gulf of America’
READ: https://t.co/9qIlDs7Nk0 pic.twitter.com/PLfwm7s1Ct
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) January 7, 2025
“The Panama Canal was built for our military. I’m not going to commit to that,” he said in response to a reporter asking if he would be willing to rule out military or economic coercion in retaking the Panama Canal.
“It might be that you’ll have to do something. Look, the Panama Canal is vital to our country,” he added.
Trump opened his press conference by announcing a multibillion-dollar investment in data centers in multiple states by investors from Dubai. Hussain Sajwani, an Emirati billionaire, stood alongside Trump, revealing he had no plans to invest in the U.S. until Trump was reelected.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“It’s been amazing news for me and my family when he was elected in November. We’ve been waiting four years to increase our investments in the U.S. to a very large amount of money,” Sajwani said.
During Trump’s last press conference in December, the president-elect stood alongside SoftBank’s chief executive, Masayoshi Son, and announced a $100 billion investment in the U.S. over the next four years.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
