Hours after Google announced that it will rename the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America in the United States, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said that her administration will send out a letter to the tech giant to question its decision to change the name for users of Google Maps in the U.S.
By signing the executive order "Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness," President Donald Trump also reverted the name of Denali, North America's tallest peak in Alaska, back to Mount McKinley, a decade after former President Barack Obama changed the mountain's name as a symbolic gesture to Alaskan natives.
But despite Sheinbaum's discontent, Google called the decision part of a "long-standing practice" when name changes have been updated in official government sources.
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
During her Jan. 29 press conference, Sheinbaum argued the U.S. government did not have the right to rename the entirety of the Gulf of Mexico as most of it is located within international waters.
"Our foreign ministry is working on a letter for Google," Sheinbaum said. "We will explain it here tomorrow because it is very important that everything is put into context." She highlighted that the issue is not the change of name in the U.S. but an "international organization" such as Google agreeing to the change.
"President Trump's decree is about the continental platform, which is very different to the rest of the Gulf," Sheinbaum argued during her press conference. "So we are writing a letter to explain the differences to Google, which I assume knows about this international division," she added.
Earlier this month, Sheinbaum said the Gulf of Mexico is a name recognized by the United Nations and fired back at Trump by saying a 1607 map of the Americas displayed the region's name as "America Mexicana."
"Why don't we call it America Mexicana? Sounds nice, no?" she said.
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