Following President Trump’s executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America,” many online were quick to point out that the body of water overlaps with the territorial waters of America’s neighbors, Mexico and Cuba, and therefore the United States should not alone be able to dictate its name. Now, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is threatening Google with a lawsuit if it does not change the boundaries and restore the “Gulf of Mexico” for territory outside the U.S. maritime area.
As it stands right now, users looking at Google Maps from the United States will see “Gulf of America; those in Mexico continue to see the Gulf of Mexico label; and the rest of the world sees both names displayed side by side. Sheinbaum makes the case that the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea only extends a nation’s sovereign territory up to 12 nautical miles off its coastline, and so only that 12-mile area should display “Gulf of America,” regardless of where users are located. President Trump has pulled the United States out of international governing bodies, so that argument would fall on deaf ears.
Sheinbaum has been quite vocal about the Gulf of Mexico issue and used a news conference on Monday to share that Mexico had recently threatened Google with legal action if it does not make a change. Google has told Mexican officials that the change to “Gulf of America” was “consistent with our normal operating procedure to reflect on our platforms geographic names prescribed by different authoritative government sources, including where authoritative sources may differ.” Google also complied in renaming Alaska’s Mount Denali to Mount McKinley, even though residents there were largely opposed to the move. But that mountain, being on U.S. federal land, was open season for President Trump.
Google has long had measures in place to deal with territorial disputes. Kashmir is a region in northwest India that has long been disputed by India, Pakistan, and China, and users in those countries see different boundaries reflected on Google Maps. Maybe Canada should demand that Google name it the “Gulf of Canada” and see how Trump reacts.
Trump’s administration, for its part, has taken its own actions to try and enforce the name change, including barring the Associated Press from press gatherings for continuing to use Gulf of Mexico. The AP, for its part, says as an international wire service it uses the name most consistent with global standards.
The move by President Trump is something of an ideological litmus test, revealing who the sycophants are, and who should be rooted out as disloyal. It is also probably just fun for Trump to wield his power in chaotic and messy ways. Does how the name is displayed on Google Maps really matter that much in isolation? Not quite—it is the broader implication of testing who will bend to power that is more concerning. Tech companies like Google and Meta have been quick to acquiesce in any way that might get them on Trump’s good side. It is at least assuring to see Mexico’s president is willing to push back against such power moves, rather than sit idly by, even if it will not result in much change.
