Trump renames the Gulf of Mexico the 'Gulf of America'

Tuesday wasn’t the best beach day, but the Gulf still had a lot of attention. 

Gulf of Mexico.

Gulf of Mexico

"We are going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America," President Donald Trump said during his Inaugural Address Monday.

Behind the name change

What we know:

Trump signed the "Restoring Names that Honor American Greatness" executive order later that day. 

It orders the Secretary of the Interior to update all federal maps, databases, and documents with the name change within 30 days. 

What does the executive order change?

All federal agencies will also now have to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. 

The executive order also said the highest peak in North America, currently called Denali, changed its name back to Mount McKinley. 

President Trump signing the

President Trump signing the "Restoring Names that Honor American Greatness" executive order.

"That's probably the most key distinction to make, is that the president can change the name officially for all the federal agencies in the government," Aubrey Jewett, a professor of political science at UCF, said. "He does not have the authority to change the name for everybody in the world, for Mexico, or anywhere else."

Why the name change?

Trump said the name change reflects the Gulf’s critical importance to the nation’s economy, including crude oil production, fisheries, and billions in tourism dollars, especially along the Gulf Coast in Florida

"There is a vital oil industry, oil and gas industry, that is based in the Gulf that contributes," Rob Mellen Jr., USF Assistant Professor of Instruction School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies, said. "I think it's somewhere around 15% of the total fossil fuels that we drill for and capture." 

"It's an economic boom for the United States down there, and certainly, I think that's probably why he wants to go ahead and rename that particular body of water to reflect the fact that the American priorities and that we derive a lot of economic benefit from the area," Mellen said.

History of the Gulf

Dig deeper:

Jewett said the Gulf has had its name for hundreds of years. 

The Gulf of Mexico.

The Gulf of Mexico.

"It comes from the name from the Aztecs, Mexico, and so that was the original name, you know, of the inhabitants of Mexico City," Jewett said. "That was the name that was given. I will say that over time, during that last 400 plus years, occasionally people have fought over the name." 

According to Jewett, different countries controlling Florida have given it different names, but the Gulf of Mexico has been its longest-serving name. 

Will the name change stick?

What's next:

He said time will tell whether this latest name change catches on.

"It’s one of those things where, on the one hand, you know, what's in a name, but on the other hand, it might be confusing to people for a while," Jewett said.

One person who won’t adopt the new name: the president of Mexico, who responded by sarcastically saying why don’t we call North America América Mexican.

The Source: FOX 13's Kailey Tracy collected the information in this story courtesy of  the "Restoring Names that Honor American Greatness" executive order, Rob Mellen Jr., and Aubrey Jewett.

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