President Renames Gulf Of Mexico 'Gulf Of America'; Mexico And Cuba, Which Also Border It, Were Not Asked

On his first day in office, the president signed an executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” — correcting, at last, the centuries-old error in which a body of water was named after a country it merely borders.

The order, EO 14172, grandly titled “Restoring Names that Honor American Greatness,” also changed the name of North America’s tallest peak from Denali back to Mount McKinley, on the apparent theory that a mountain in Alaska had been insufficiently patriotic this whole time.

There are wrinkles. The Gulf borders not only the United States but Mexico and Cuba, neither of which was consulted and neither of which is obligated to agree. Google Maps split the difference, showing “Gulf of America” to users in the U.S. and “Gulf of Mexico” to users in Mexico — meaning the ocean now has a different name depending on where you are standing, which is either a triumph of federalism or the premise of a fable.

It is, at minimum, the most decisive action ever taken against a body of water that had done nothing wrong.