President-elect Donald Trump said Tuesday he would move to try to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America” when he retakes office later this month. But wait, doesn’t that idea sound a bit familiar?
To many Mississippians, it might.
Back in 2012, state Rep. Steve Holland introduced a bill in the Mississippi Legislature calling for the part of the Gulf of Mexico bordering Mississippi to be renamed to – yep, you guessed it – the “Gulf of America.”
The populist Democrat who held office in Mississippi for over three decades made national waves as the proposal was reported by outlets ranging from Fox News to ABC and every local newspaper and station in between. It also received hefty criticism, specifically from the Latino population with some suggesting Mississippi should have to give up the namesake of the Mississippi River if it’s going to try to change the four-century-old label graced upon an international waterway.
While Holand’s bill was destined to die before the ink even dried as the lawmaker later claimed it was a spoof on “immigration crap” and “to be silly,” Trump’s proposition may have a little more seriousness behind it. The Republican, who will soon become the second president to take office for nonconsecutive terms, told reporters that the “Gulf of America” has a “beautiful ring to it.”
NEW: President-elect Trump says he intends to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America.”
“That covers a lot of territory … what a beautiful name.” https://t.co/Aeo6XbtYGp pic.twitter.com/elXQqYhEAd
— ABC News (@ABC) January 7, 2025
Just after his comments, avid Trump supporter and U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said during an interview with podcaster Benny Johnson that she would direct her staff to draft legislation to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico, one that would include funding for new maps and administrative policy materials issued throughout the federal government.
🚨BREAKING: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene announces legislation to rename the ‘Gulf of Mexico’ the ‘Gulf of America’ immediately after Trump’s announcement pic.twitter.com/7NBivhbMyK
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) January 7, 2025
Like many on Trump’s growing list of ideas – such as making Canada a state, taking control of Greenland, and demanding Panama return the Panama Canal – it’s always easier said than done. Going into a new Congress with GOP control in both chambers, albeit one of the smallest majorities in the modern history of the House, lawmakers struggle to agree on just about anything, and renaming the Gulf of Mexico would require a considerable amount of work both in and out of the U.S.
Congress could always decide that America would refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America,” but other countries wouldn’t have to go along. Getting Mexico and Cuba, the other two countries that border it, and the International Hydrographic Organization to agree would be more than a long shot – to say the least.
