WASHINGTON — In a light-hearted exchange, President Trump jested about the idea of renaming the Gulf of Mexico after himself, ultimately deciding against it because it might not be well-received — before clarifying that he was merely joking.
“I dubbed it the Gulf of America, all thanks to me. Just one of those things I came up with,” Trump, 79, shared on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.” He questioned, “Why should it remain the Gulf of Mexico when 93% of the coastline belongs to us?”
He further mused, “I actually entertained the thought of calling it the ‘Gulf of Trump,’ but I eventually refrained, thinking, ‘Well, that’s not going to sit well.'”
He quickly added, “You know I’m kidding.”
According to the US Geological Survey, the United States actually accounts for about 46% of the Gulf of Mexico’s shoreline.
Upon returning to the White House last year, Trump signed an executive order changing the name from the “Gulf of Mexico” to the “Gulf of America.” The White House also criticized the Associated Press for not acknowledging this name change.
The president recently claimed that the US was going to be shipping out “massive” amounts of petroleum products to help countries dealing with the chaos in the Strait of Hormuz, where about a fifth of the world’s seaborne oil flows through on an annual basis.
“Massive numbers of completely empty oil tankers, some of the largest anywhere in the World, are heading, right now, to the United States to load up with the best and ‘sweetest’ oil ([and] gas!) anywhere in the World,” Trump announced on Truth Social early Saturday.
“We have more oil than the next two largest oil economies combined – and higher quality. We are waiting for you. Quick turnaround!”
On Sunday, Trump announced a blockade of the critical oil chokepoint in response to Iran claiming to have lost track of the mines there and attempting to charge tolls for passage through the waterway.
Trump previously mused about renaming the Strait of Hormuz after himself or rechristening it the “Strait of America,” The Post previously reported.
In the past, Trump has publicly floated the possibility of naming things after himself, before eventually following through.
Last August, for example, the president remarked that “some people refer to it as the Trump-Kennedy Center, but we’re not prepared to do that quite yet.”
By December, the rebrand was official.
His administration also renamed the US Institute of Peace as the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace.
