WGN– Google Maps users in the U.S. will now see “Gulf of America” displayed over the body of water that was once labeled, “Gulf of Mexico.”
Users in Mexico will still see the name, “Gulf of Mexico,” and users elsewhere in the world will see both names, written as, “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America).”
The change follows President Trump’s directive on Jan. 20, his first day in office, to rename the gulf to include America’s name. The executive order instructed the Department of the Interior to take all steps necessary to make the change official.
The Interior Department, on Jan. 24, issued a press release saying that “the Gulf of Mexico will now officially be known as the Gulf of America.”
“As we announced two weeks ago and consistent with our longstanding practices, we’ve begun rolling out changes to reflect this update,” Google said in a blog post.
“Today, I am making my first visit to the Gulf of America since its renaming,” Trump said in a statement Sunday. “As my Administration restores American pride in the history of American greatness, it is fitting and appropriate for our great Nation to come together and commemorate this momentous occasion and the renaming of the Gulf of America.”
Trump officially made Feb. 9, “Gulf of America Day.” He also flew over the gulf that day and acknowledged the name change in remarks.
I’m not the most passionate guy about the proper nomenclature when talking about bodies of water so don’t confuse this otherwise. It would be crazy for me to throw a party and celebrate like I voted on this campaign issue. Let me clear about that.
But at the same time I think this is a huge win for people that like a forward moving agenda. You say you’re re-naming it the Gulf of America, fine. Just don’t sandbag me in 6 months with CNN outrage that’s held up in the Supreme Court because we didn’t file the right paperwork. Don’t drag this into the summer time when 4th of July rolls around and people want to start a fight. If you say you’re going to do it, just do it and move on to the next executive order.
That’s typically how I feel about naming conventions across geography. I’m not as concerned with what we call things as much as I’m worried about how much we complain about the process of calling things that have absolutely no impact on my life. Grand Canyon could easily be The Biggest Fucking Thing You’ve Ever Seen In Your Life and I wouldn’t lose any sleep. Same goes for the Gulf of America and the ever-changing liturgical responses in the Catholic Church. You change it, I say it and we all move on without much fanfare.
My only problem here is that you know an oil tanker is going missing in the first week. Or a plane or Carnival Cruise. Some large vessel carrying a lot of people will disappear off the face of the earth and they’ll blame the name change. They’ll say the captain was disoriented because he was unfamiliar with this new body of water and then they’ll call for a years long investigation into whether JD Vance conspired with the Devil to hurt the distant relatives of hard working illegal immigrants.
Not on my watch, which happens to be a luxury limited edition Rolex gifted to me for my 11th birthday – JB Pritzker
PS – I asked Chat GPT for some fun facts about the Gulf of America and this actually really bothers me. Like if this is how we start the fight with machines, then so be it. I’ve watched Terminator 2 enough to not be talked to like that.
