A Name Change Nobody Saw Coming
When Trump campaigned for re-election in 2024, his headline promises were easy to list. He talked about ending the war between Russia and Ukraine, carrying out mass deportations and bringing inflation under control. Renaming a body of water was nowhere on that list.
Yet it was among the first moves he made after returning to the White House. The decision to rebrand the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America" caught many people off guard, and reactions ranged from confusion to anger. Trump framed it differently, saying the change would "restore American pride."
The rest of the world has been slower to go along. Some public and private organizations have adopted the new name, but most have not, and plenty of online maps and reference sources still label the waterway as the Gulf of Mexico.
Sheinbaum's Response
Mexico's leadership did not take the move quietly. Shortly after the announcement, Sheinbaum poked fun at the idea, suggesting that if names were up for revision, the United States might as well become "Mexican America."
The dispute later moved beyond jokes. In May 2025, Sheinbaum said her government was pursuing legal action against Google over its decision to show the new name to users in the United States.
Trump's Account of the Phone Call
On Tuesday, speaking in Maryland, Trump offered his own telling of how Mexico reacted. He said he had received a call from Mexico's president, and then performed an imitation of her, repeating "No, no President" in a mock-pleading voice.
He went on to describe Sheinbaum, the first woman to lead Mexico, as a "very nice woman" and a "beautiful woman" with a "beautiful voice." In his retelling, she asked him to tell her it wasn't true, and he replied that he was sorry, but it was. The name had been changed from the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. He wrapped up the story by saying it was simply "one of those things."
How People Reacted Online
The clip drew a wave of reaction on social media, much of it harshly critical. One user wrote that the president had "well and truly lost it," while another dismissed the speech as rambling and called his style boorish.
Others doubted the story itself. One commenter said that even without knowing the details, there are times you can tell when he isn't being truthful, and this was one of them.
Some comparisons were more pointed. One user noted that Sheinbaum holds a Ph.D. in energy engineering from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), and contrasted that with what they described as Trump's false claims about his own academic record.
A further comment focused on the wording, arguing that Trump reveals his attitude toward women whenever he reaches for phrases like "beautiful woman."
Where Things Stand
Months on, the Gulf of America label remains a point of friction. It is still contested in practice, with many organizations sticking to the older name, and the latest remarks have added a new layer of controversy that has little to do with geography. Whether the backlash changes anything is unclear, but the episode shows how a single symbolic decision can keep generating headlines long after it was announced.
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