Trump causes chaos by renaming Gulf of Mexico
- In January 2017, President Trump directed the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, creating confusion in the U.S. Geological Survey.
- Agency staff were instructed not to respond to media inquiries about the name change, raising concerns about transparency.
- This name change initiative reflects broader political and nationalistic sentiments shaped by Trump's administration.
In January 2017, President Donald Trump raised eyebrows by issuing a directive to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. This announcement came just weeks before his inauguration and led to significant confusion within the U.S. Geological Survey, the agency tasked with managing geographic names. Following the announcement, agency staff were reportedly instructed not to respond to media inquiries regarding the name change, highlighting the uncertainty surrounding the policy. Despite this internal chaos, legislative efforts were initiated, with Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene introducing a bill aimed at formalizing the name change in law, which ultimately passed the House with majority Republican support. The context of this name change indicates a broader trend of Trump's administration focusing on rebranding national assets and fostering a sense of American identity. The directive was part of a larger political narrative that engaged with nationalistic sentiments among Trump's supporters. Furthermore, the planned alteration caused not only logistical queries among geographers and scientists regarding the practicality of such a division but also prompted discussions at the United Nations about potential international reactions. Trump’s administration also initiated several other high-profile renaming endeavors, indicating a consistent strategy of leveraging national symbolism to impact public opinion. The internal division and chaos within the U.S. Geological Survey underscored the difficulties in managing such a sweeping directive from the presidency. As a result, analysts noted concerns about government agencies handling directives that may be politically charged. In addition to the Gulf name change, Trump expressed discontent with the term 'artificial intelligence' at an AI summit in 2018, stating it should be renamed to dispel the notion of 'artificial.' He suggested the term 'genius' instead, which elicited laughter from the audience. This comment was made amid the release of a significant AI policy document titled "Winning the Race: America’s AI Action Plan," which aimed to position the United States as a leader in AI development. Trump's remarks about AI reflect a deeper engagement with technology and innovation themes prevalent in his administration's policy framework while simultaneously portraying a tendency toward rebranding both technological and geographical elements of American identity.