Mexico is threatening legal action against Google over its “Gulf of America” name update.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum warned Thursday that her government may sue Google for renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” on its maps platform. She argued that Trump’s executive order, which initiated the change, only applies to the U.S. continental shelf, not the entire body of water.
“Who we have a dispute with is Google,” Sheinbaum said, according to Bloomberg. “If they keep insisting, we’ll consider a lawsuit.”
Google Maps implemented the change Monday, reflecting the U.S. Geographic Names Information System update. In Mexico, the name remains Gulf of Mexico, while internationally, it appears as “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America).” Apple Maps and Bing Maps have also made similar updates.
Sheinbaum previously sent a letter to Google opposing the move, emphasizing, “To change the name of an international sea, it is not a country that changes it. It is an international organization that does this,” per Al Jazeera.
Trump signed an executive order renaming the gulf on his first day in office, with the Interior Department announcing, “The Gulf of Mexico will now officially be known as the Gulf of America.”
The Encyclopedia Britannica has rejected the change, stating the gulf “is an international body of water, and the U.S.’s authority to rename it is ambiguous.”
Meanwhile, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the administration’s stance, saying, “It is a fact that the body of water off the coast of Louisiana is called the Gulf of America.”
