Trump Wasn't Joking About the 'Gulf of America'

President Trump wasn't joking earlier this month when he said he would rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. In a post on X Monday confirming a report in the New York Post, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump would rename the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska's Mount Denali as part of his Day 1 executive orders. The Post reports that Trump will direct the secretary of the interior to change the names to "Gulf of America" and "Mount McKinley" in federal communications and on official maps.

"A short time from now, we are going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America," Trump said in his inaugural address. "And we will restore the name of the great President William McKinley to Mount McKinley, where it should be and where it belongs." The mountain, the tallest in North America, has long been recognized by the Alaskan state government as Denali, the name used by Alaska Natives, USA Today reports. Barack Obama changed the name from McKinley at the federal level during his second term. According to a preview of the executive orders seen by the Post, the names are being changed to 'honor American greatness."