President Trump issued Executive Order 14172 on January 20, 2025. The order directed the interior secretary to adopt the name Gulf of America, specifying an area of the U.S. continental shelf “extending to the seaward boundary with Mexico and Cuba.” The U.S. Interior Department confirmed that US federal agencies would use the name Gulf of America from January 24, 2025. Trump declared February 9, 2025, to be “Gulf of America Day”.
However, as an executive order, this does not compel the use of the new name by non-federal agencies, private companies, or – in particular – foreign entities. The Mexican government in particular took exception to this with considerable scorn directed at Trump, and most other foreign governments either ignored it entirely or announced that they would be continuing to use the traditional name. Although Google was quick to fall in line, later walking it back, so that Google Maps showed the name as “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)”, an each-way bet that seems unlikely to please anyone.
