Comment by Double-decker_trams on 22/01/2025 at 12:16 UTC

3 upvotes, 3 direct replies (showing 3)

View submission: U.S. Politics megathread

I understand why Trump "renamed" Denali back to Mount McKinley - Obama was the one who changed the name to the local native name Denali and William McKinley seemingly shares some similarities to Trump - like protectionist tariffs and imperialism (Canada/Greenland stuff). But why did Trump rename the Gulf of Mexico?

I think it's all silly, but at least things like Freedom Fries [1]or Liberty Cabbage [2]had a clearly defined reason for the change. The Gulf of Mexico just seems random - the name predates the existance of Mexico as a country[3] and its not like Mexico is at war with the US. Just seems so random.

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_fries

2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_politically_motivated_renamings#:~:text=Sauerkraut%20was%20marketed%20in%20the%20US%20as%20%22liberty%20cabbage.%22

3: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Mexico#:~:text=The%20gulf%20as%20a%20whole%20is%20known%20as%20the%20Gulf%20of%20Mexico%2C%20ultimately%20deriving%20from%20Mexica%2C%20the%20Nahuatl%20term%20for%20the%20Aztecs.%20French%20Jesuits%20called%20the%20gulf%20the%20Gulf%20of%20Mexico%20(Golphe%20du%20Mexique)%20as%20early%20as%201672

Replies

Comment by Always_travelin at 22/01/2025 at 14:11 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

He's honestly so entrenched in social media it came up and he latched onto it. No one really cares.

Comment by CaptCynicalPants at 22/01/2025 at 12:29 UTC

2 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Firstly, it's a display of power. People like wide, sweeping measures that "change things", even if the change is meaningless, because it makes them feel like "things are being done". Trump renaming a major landmark, even if it doesn't stick, is a display of power people in his base will love. It's essentially no different than Obama renaming all those mountains and military bases, just on a large scale.

Secondly, and more importantly, as a distraction. Every second spent arguing over, talking about, and protesting the name "Gulf of America" is a moment not spent pushing back against any of Trump's meaningful policies.

Comment by ProLifePanda at 22/01/2025 at 12:28 UTC

7 upvotes, 0 direct replies

It is likely just a manifestation of his America First policies. It's a completely inconsequential action but he likely heard it as a one time throw away joke/line from someone else and liked the messaging behind it and adopted the idea. It's just a big grand gesture showing that the US puts ourselves first on a global stage.