What to Know
- During his inaugural address, President Donald Trump said he will rename the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America," something that he has mentioned previously.
- Aside from mentioning a name change for the Gulf of Mexico during his inaugural address, Trump also touched upon a name change for Mount Denali -- a move that may be easier for him to see through fruition. He said he would rename it to Mount McKinley.
- This declaration could be seen as a snub toward former President Barack Obama, who changed the name in 2015 to Denali, the Alaskan Native name for Mount McKinley, meaning "the high one."
During his inaugural address, President Donald Trump said he will rename the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America," something that he has mentioned previously.
“America will reclaim its rightful place as the greatest, most powerful, most respected nation on Earth, inspiring the awe and admiration of the entire world,” he said on Monday. “A short time from now, we are going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.”
Watch NBC 4 free wherever you are

But, can Trump change the name of the Gulf of Mexico? While it is unclear, if a U.S. president has the authority to rename the Gulf of Mexico since the area is considered international waters, it has not stopped Trump from announcing the idea various times.
If the name does change, it is not a unilateral decision, meaning other countries do not have to go along with the new name. There are instances where countries refer to the same body of water or landmark by different names in their own documentation.
Get Tri-state area news delivered to your inbox with NBC New York's News Headlines newsletter.

Aside from mentioning a name change for the Gulf of Mexico during his inaugural address, Trump also touched upon a name change for Mount Denali -- a move that may be easier for him to see through fruition. He said he would rename it to Mount McKinley.
This declaration could be seen as a snub toward former President Barack Obama, who changed the name in 2015 to Denali, the Alaskan Native name for Mount McKinley, meaning "the high one."
News
Denali, which is the highest in North America, with a summit of 20,320 feet, is a popular destination spot for climbers.
The name Mount McKinley was originally published in a New York Sun article in 1897 in support of then-presidential candidate, William McKinley, who eventually went on to become president.
In 1980 the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA; Public Law 96-487) expanded Mount McKinley National Park and renamed it as Denali National Park and Preserve; however the name of Mount McKinley was not changed.
Alaska changed the name of the mountain to Denali in 1975, although the U.S. Board on Geographic Names has continued to use the name Mount McKinley until the Obama administration announced it would be renamed Denali.
Trump's inauguration was not the first time that Trump proposed changed the name from Denali to Mount McKinley.
Trump suggested in 2016 that he might undo Obama’s action, but he dropped that notion after Alaska’s senators objected. He raised it again during a rally in Phoenix last month which was strongly opposed by U.S. Senators from Alaska: Lisa Murkowski (R) and Dan Sullivan (R), along with Alaska State Senator Scott Kawasaki (D).
“There is only one name worthy of North America’s tallest mountain: Denali — the Great One,” Murkowski wrote on X.
Various tribes of Athabascan people have lived in the shadow of the 20,310-foot (6,190-meter) mountain for thousands of years.
McKinley, a Republican native of Ohio who served as the 25th president, was assassinated early in his second term in 1901 in Buffalo, New York.