President-elect Donald Trump wants the Gulf of Mexico to become known as the “Gulf of America.”
During a press conference Tuesday at Mar-a-Lago, Trump said he intends to make the change, but did not provide details on when or how.
“We’re going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Gulf of America — what a beautiful name,” he told reporters. “And it’s appropriate.”
“We’re going to change, because we do most of the work there, and it’s ours,” he said.
Names of natural features in the United States are governed by the U.S. Board of Geographic Names, a division of the U.S. Geological Survey.
The board was created in 1890 and codified in its present form by public law in 1947 to maintain uniform geographic name usage throughout the federal government, according to its website.
Typically, the board “discourages name changes unless there is a compelling reason,” according to the agency.
Any person or group can propose a name change.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., posted on X shortly after Trump’s speech that she had directed staff to begin drafting legislation to change the name of the body of water.
The comments are the latest in a series of proposals Trump has floated regarding neighboring U.S. countries, including acquiring Greenland, retaking the Panama Canal and annexing Canada.