Claudia Sheinbaum proposed renaming the US as ‘Mexican America’
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum responded to US President-elect Donald Trump’s suggestion to rename the Gulf of Mexico the ‘Gulf of America.’
Sheinbaum countered by proposing the US revert to the name ‘America Mexicana’ or ‘Mexican America,’ referencing a historical designation. She made this suggestion at a Wednesday press briefing, alongside former Culture Secretary Jose Alfonso Suarez del Real, while standing before a 17th-century world map.
Her response was to Trump’s earlier statement that renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the ‘Gulf of America’ was “appropriate” and had a “beautiful ring.”
“Why don’t we call it America Mexicana. It sounds pretty, doesn’t it?” Sheinbaum stated, pointing to a 1607 map depicting early North America, encompassing present-day US, Mexico, and parts of Canada.
“The fact is that Mexican America has been recognized since the 17th century… as the name for the whole northern part of the (American) continent,” Suarez del Real explained, highlighting the area on a 17th-century map commissioned by the Dutch East India Company.
Trump’s proposal to rename the Gulf of Mexico, extending from Florida to Cancun, was part of a broader plan announced at a Tuesday Mar-a-Lago press conference, including potential Greenland acquisition. Trump suggested Denmark should relinquish control of Greenland, deeming it an “absolute necessity” for US national security, and did not rule out military or economic measures to achieve this. He also indicated a possible military intervention to regain control of the Panama Canal, calling it vital to the US and originally built for the US military.
He also reiterated his threat of “very serious tariffs on Mexico and Canada” due to illegal border crossings and drug trafficking.
In response to Trump’s proposed 25% tariffs on Mexican imports, Sheinbaum previously warned of Mexican retaliation, arguing that such penalties would not curb migration or drug flow but instead inflate prices and increase unemployment in both nations.