In a Thursday press conference, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said that President Donald Trump’s order cannot be applied to any extending beyond the “continental shelf of the Untied States.”
The Mexican government has said that it may consider filing a lawsuit against Google unless the company stops using the term “Gulf of America” to describe a body of seawater lying between a part of the southeaster United States and Mexico.
Until recently, the body of water had been termed the “Gulf of Mexico.” However, shortly after taking office in January, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing that its name be changed.
In a Thursday press conference, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said that President Donald Trump’s order cannot be applied to any extending beyond the “continental shelf of the Untied States.” Sheinbaum emphasized that Mexico still controls much of the Gulf, and seemed to suggest that companies shouldn’t be compelled to respect the Trump administration’s order.
“We are going to wait,” Sheinbaum said. “We are already seeing, observing, what this would mean from the perspective of legal advice, but we hope that they will make a revision,” Sheinbaum said.
Before 2025, few high-profile personalities—let alone the general public—had ever raised concerns about the gulf’s nomenclature. Donald Trump explained the change as “appropriate.”
“We’re going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which has a beautiful ring. That covers a lot of territory,” Trump said on Tuesday. “The Gulf of America. What a beautiful name. And it’s appropriate.”
Sheinbaum has said that the change conflicts with longstanding tradition.
“All we are asking of Google is to look at the decree that the White House has released and that President Donald Trump signed,” Sheinbaum said. “You’ll see in that decree that it does not refer to the whole gulf.”
“If necessary,” she said, “we will file a civil suit. Our legal area is already looking into what that would mean, but we hope that [Google] reconsiders.”
FOX News notes that the Federal Aviation Administration has already issued charting notices stating that the agency is updating its systems to recognize the changed names of both the gulf and Mount McKinley, formerly and colloquially known as Denali.
“Please be advised that the FAA is in the process of updating our data and charts to show a name change from the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and a name change from Denali to Mount McKinley,” the FAA wrote in the notice. “This will be targeted for the next publication cycle.”
Sources
Bristling at ‘Gulf of Mexico’ name change on maps, Mexico says it might sue Google
Mexican president floats lawsuit against Google for adopting ‘Gulf of America’
Mexican president signals possible lawsuit against Google over Gulf of America name change
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