Mexico’s president rebuffed President-elect Donald Trump’s call to rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” with a suggestion that the United States ought to be renamed “Mexican America.”
Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo opened a Wednesday news conference in Mexico City with a 17th Century map of North and South America as a backdrop.
“Obviously the Gulf of Mexico is recognized by the United Nations… but why don’t we call this ‘Mexican America’?” she said, pointing to an area on the map that would now correspond to the United States.
During Tuesday remarks at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, Trump announced plans to rename the body of water separating Miami and Cancun.
“We’re going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America,” he said. “Gulf of America – what a beautiful name. And it’s appropriate.”
He did not specify when or how he intends to make the change, saying he would provide those details at a future date.
“We’re going to change,” he said, “because we do most of the work there, and it’s ours.”
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Sheinbaum Pardo projected a map authored in 1607 that labels a rough drawing of North America as “America Mexicana,” or Mexican America, and also names the Gulf of Mexico, already at the time a key maritime navigational reference.
Sheinbaum Pardo also displayed a separate, 19th-century map showing the immense territory that previously belonged to Mexico, including what are today roughly the U.S. states of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico.
The Mexican president has been sparring with Trump ever since the president-elect began threatening tariffs on Mexican imports if the country doesn’t do more to stop the flow of migrants to the U.S. border.
Sheinbaum Pardo has said Mexico is working to enforce its borders and intercept migrants on routes north, citing the sharp drop is illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border.
“We’re going to call it Mexican America,” she said. “It sounds pretty, no?”
Francesca Chambers contributed to this report.
Lauren Villagran can be reached at lvillagran@usatoday.com