Mexico City:

Mexico will take Google to court if it insists on changing the Gulf of Mexico’s name to “Gulf of America” for Maps users in the United States, President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday.

She said her government had written again to the US company arguing that President Donald Trump’s executive order on the subject only applies to the part of the continental shelf belonging to the United States.

The letter informs Google that “under no circumstances does Mexico accept the renaming of any geographic area that includes part of its national territory and that is under its jurisdiction,” she said.

“We will wait for Google’s response and, if not, we will proceed in court,” Sheinbaum said at her daily news conference.

Sheinbaum had announced on Friday that her government was considering legal action against Google, saying: “If necessary, we will file a civil suit.”

Trump signed an executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico soon after his January 20 inauguration.

In response, Sheinbaum cheekily suggested calling the United States “Mexican America,” pointing to a map dating back to before 1848, when one-third of her country was seized by the United States.

Google, which is part of tech giant Alphabet, said that users of its Maps app in Mexico would continue to see the name “Gulf of Mexico” while those in third countries would see both names.

Apple has also renamed the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” for US users of its mapping application to comply with Trump’s order.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

The Associated Press has been indefinitely barred from the Oval Office and Air Force One due to a naming dispute over the Gulf of Mexico, now referred to as the Gulf of America by the Trump administration. This decision marks a significant escalation in the four-day standoff between the White House and the AP, which has refused to comply with the rebranding.

At the heart of the issue lies the AP’s stance on referring to the body of water, which has been known as the Gulf of Mexico for centuries. The news agency has opted to continue using the original name, citing its global audience and the fact that many countries have not recognised the new name. This decision has drawn ire from the White House, which views the AP’s stance as a deliberate attempt to undermine the administration’s authority.

Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich took to X to express his disapproval, stating, “While their right to irresponsible and dishonest reporting is protected by the First Amendment, it does not ensure their privilege of unfettered access to limited spaces, like the Oval Office and Air Force One.” He further emphasised that the space would now be opened up to thousands of other reporters who have been barred from covering these areas of the administration.

In response, AP spokeswoman Lauren Easton emphasised the importance of freedom of speech, stating, “”Freedom of speech is a pillar of American democracy and a core value of the American people. The White House has said it supports these principles. The actions taken to restrict AP’s coverage of presidential events because of how we refer to a geographic location chip away at this important right enshrined in the US Constitution for all Americans.”

The AP’s influential stylebook has advised using both the original name, Gulf of Mexico, and the new name, Gulf of America, within the United States. This approach is in line with the agency’s commitment to accuracy and fairness in reporting.

Interestingly, other news organisations have taken varying approaches to the naming dispute. The New York Times and Washington Post have opted to primarily use the original name, Gulf of Mexico, while Fox News has switched to using Gulf of America.

The White House’s decision to bar the AP from the Oval Office and Air Force One has significant implications for press freedom and access to information.
 

The White House barred an Associated Press reporter from covering an event with President Donald Trump and adviser Elon Musk on Tuesday, in what the longtime newswire said was punishment for its style guide not adopting the president’s new “Gulf of America” label.

“It is alarming that the Trump administration would punish AP for its independent journalism,” the AP said in a statement. “Limiting our access to the Oval Office based on the content of AP’s speech not only severely impedes the public’s access to independent news, it plainly violates the First Amendment.”

The Associated Press is a permanent member of the so-called “pool” that provides round-the-clock coverage of the president. As a newswire, stories written by AP reporters are published in newspapers and on websites across the US and world. 

The AP’s style guide is also the basis for many broadcasting and news services, including Bloomberg News. In a Jan. 23 guidance note, the agency said that the “Gulf of Mexico has carried that name for more than 400 years” and that the organization would “refer to it by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen.”

The White House Correspondents Association, which represents hundreds of journalists covering the presidency, issued a statement calling on the White House to “immediately change course.”

“The White House cannot dictate how news organizations report the news, nor should it penalize working journalists because it is unhappy with their editors’ decisions,” WHCA President Eugene Daniels said. “The move by the administration to bar a reporter from The Associated Press from an official event open to news coverage today is unacceptable.”

During the presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly barred media outlets from his events over their coverage. During his first term, Trump officials sought to strip press passes from reporters but relented after a federal court sided with members of the media.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

The Trump administration’s Interior Department said on Friday it had officially changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, and the Alaskan peak Denali to Mount McKinley.

U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the name changes as part of a flurry of executive actions hours after taking office on Monday, making good on a campaign promise.

“As directed by the President, the Gulf of Mexico will now officially be known as the Gulf of America and North America’s highest peak will once again bear the name Mount McKinley,” the Interior Department said in a statement.

Alaska’s towering peak had been called Mount McKinley before, in honor of former U.S. President William McKinley, but was renamed Denali – meaning ‘tall’ in the Koyukon Indigenous language – in 1975 at the state’s request.

“These changes reaffirm the Nation’s commitment to preserving the extraordinary heritage of the United States and ensuring that future generations of Americans celebrate the legacy of its heroes and historic assets,” the department said.

In his inaugural address on Monday, Trump said McKinley, a Republican who was president from 1897 to 1901, “made our country very rich through tariffs and through talent – he was a natural businessman.” McKinley was head of the U.S. in an expansionist era, gaining Hawaii, Guam, and Puerto Rico as territories. Hawaii later became a U.S. state.

While Trump can direct the U.S. Geological Survey to change how it denotes the Gulf of Mexico, such a name change would be unlikely to be recognized internationally.

Mexico, which like the U.S. has a long coastline circling the body of water, has said the Gulf of Mexico name is internationally recognized and has been used as a maritime navigational reference going back hundreds of years.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum earlier this month jokingly suggested North America, including the United States, be renamed “Mexican America” – an historic name used on an early map of the region.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)