President Donald Trump says an executive order will change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. He also outlined his desire for the U.S. to take over the Panama Canal.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico, but who actually owns the waterway that touches multiple countries?
The shores of the gulf touch not just the United States, but also wide swaths of Mexico’s east coast and parts of Cuba.
On his first day in office, Trump announced that he would sign an executive order renaming the body of water as the Gulf of America, doing so to pay tribute to what he called a “legacy of American greatness.”
As part of those executive orders, he also renamed Denali, the highest peak in North America, as Mount McKinley, restoring the name it had been given in the 19th century.
Alaskan lawmakers have pushed back against the latter move, but it is unclear if the Trump Administration will change their policy.
Here are other items to keep in mind when discussing the waterway.
Can the United States rename the Gulf?
Local
Since the United States has territorial rights over portions of the Gulf, it can rename its territorial waters as the “Gulf of America,” and the Department of the Interior has recognized that change.
“These changes reaffirm the Nation’s commitment to preserving the extraordinary heritage of the United States and ensuring that future generations of Americans celebrate the legacy of its heroes and historic assets,” the department said in a statement.
Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly Chicago Catch-Up newsletter.
In accordance with the change, multiple companies that maintain GPS technology, including Google Maps, have renamed the Gulf on their platforms, though only for users based in the United States.
So who “owns” the Gulf?
No country technically “owns” the Gulf, as it borders three separate countries, including the United States, Mexico and Cuba.
Under provisions of the United Nations’ Convention on the Law of the Sea, the United States directly controls the waters of the Gulf approximately 12 nautical miles from its shores. It also maintains what is known as an “Exclusive Economic Zone” stretching 200 miles offshore, which allows it to “explore, exploit, conserve and manage natural resources,” according to the NOAA.
Mexico employs similar control over a wide swath of the Gulf, and Cuba also controls parts of the Gulf that are off of its shores.
Will Mexico, Cuba recognize the renaming of the Gulf?
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo has said Mexico will not recognize the name change, and has written a letter to Google asking the company to rename the body of water ‘América Mexicana’ instead of “Gulf of America,” according to the Daily Beast.
Cuba has not indicated whether it will observe the changed name.
The United Kingdom is one of several countries that has said it will continue referring to the waterway as the Gulf of Mexico.
