Coming back into office seemingly with a vengeance, freshly inaugurated for his second term, President Donald Trump has wasted no time adopting a series of controversial executive orders in the very first days back in power.
One of his missions is to “honour American greatness” and, in doing so, renaming geographical landmarks to his liking. And, as Google follows governmental standards in each country, US users of Google Maps will soon find the Gulf of America on the country’s southeastern border, instead of the Gulf of Mexico, and Mount McKinley in Alaska, instead of Mount Denali.
“We have a longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources, Google explained in a post on X. “For geographic features in the U.S., this is when Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is updated. When that happens, we will update Google Maps in the US. quickly to show Mount McKinley and Gulf of America.”
The tech giant went on to clarify that the changes will only be visible to people in the US and that “When official names vary between countries, Maps users see their official local name. Everyone in the rest of the world sees both names.”
We’ve received a few questions about naming within Google Maps. We have a longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources.
— News from Google (@NewsFromGoogle) January 27, 2025
The name changes will soon take effect in all government documents in the USA. “As directed by the President, the Gulf of Mexico will now officially be known as the Gulf of America and North America’s highest peak will once again bear the name Mount McKinley,” the US Department of Interior (DOI) said in a statement on 24 January. “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 anets.”
North America’s highest peak was named Mount McKinley in 1917, after the 25 President of the country, William McKinley. In 2015, President Barack Obama changed its name to Denali, which is how the local Koyukon people had been calling the mountain for centuries before the Americans put their mark on it. The new administration now aims to fix the “affront to President McKinley’s life, his achievements and his sacrifice,” the DOI statement reads.
As for the Gulf of Mexico, Trump argues that the new name “has a beautiful ring” and “it’s appropriate”, with the DOI statement going further into detail, explaining it “is one of the most vital assets in the Nation’s history and economy […] Recognising the Gulf’s enduring contributions to the economic strength and vitality of the United States, President Trump’s directive affirms its central importance to the Nation by officially renaming it the Gulf of America.”