President-elect Donald Trump says he plans to rename the Gulf of Mexico “America's Gulf”, calling the move “appropriate” and criticizing Mexico for its handling of migrants crossing the US southern border .
Trump made the comments during an open-ended Mar-a-Lago press conference, during which he also said did not refuse Using military or economic pressure to bring Greenland and the Panama Canal under American control. He assumes office in 13 days.
“We're going to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of Mexico, which has a beautiful ring to it,” Trump said. “It covers a lot of territory, the Gulf of Mexico. What a beautiful name. And it's appropriate. It's appropriate. And Mexico needs to stop allowing millions of people to come into our country.”
Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, a Trump ally, said she would introduce Legislation To this effect on Thursday morning.
“The American people are introducing legislation to protect and secure maritime waterways for the conduct of commerce. Our American armed forces defend the region against any military threat from foreign countries,” he said in a statement. “This is our Gulf. The correct name is the Gulf of America and the whole world should call it by that name.”
It is not immediately clear whether Trump has the authority to change the name for US use, although pressure from both him and Republicans in Congress could change the US government reference.
The Gulf is an ocean basin and marginal sea off the Atlantic Ocean that extends thousands of miles between the United States and Mexico, as well as Cuba. Mexico and the US share approximately the same number of coastlines along the Gulf, although Mexico has about 60 miles more coastline along the Gulf than the US states of Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
NOAA
According to the National Centers for Environmental Information, within approximately half the Gulf, the US has sovereign rights to explore, manage, and have jurisdiction over natural resources, as international law allows. That range is shown in the map above.
If Trump formally changes US references to the “US Gulf”, there will be no obligation on other countries to follow suit.