• Google has renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America on its Maps, reflecting an executive order from Donald Trump.
• U.S. users will see "Gulf of America," while users in Mexico will continue to see "Gulf of Mexico."
• This change has drawn criticism from Mexican officials and sparked diplomatic tensions between the two countries.
• Both Google and Apple have updated their mapping platforms following the official update in the U.S. Geographic Names Information System.

The iconic body of water previously known as the Gulf of Mexico has been officially renamed the Gulf of America for users in the United States on platforms like The Hill and is now reflected on India Times. This significant change follows an executive order signed by former President Donald Trump on his first day in office, which directed the U.S. Department of the Interior to initiate updates to geographic nomenclature across federal documents. According to Reuters, the updated listing for the Gulf of America in the U.S. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) reflects this directive, emphasizing a renewed focus on elements that promote "American greatness."

In a statement, Google outlined that while U.S. users will exclusively see "Gulf of America," those accessing Google Maps from Mexico will still view it as "Gulf of Mexico," and users in other parts of the globe will see both names, formatted as "Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)" (Newsweek). This approach to differential naming underscores Google's longstanding practice of aligning its services with official government naming protocols.

The renaming effort, as articulated by Trump, aims to revise historical names and restore what his administration considers rightful American identity to various national landmarks, paralleling other actions such as renaming Denali back to Mount McKinley, which has also been contentious as mentioned in various reports (Business Insider). Nevertheless, this geographic change has been met with significant backlash from the Mexican government. President Claudia Sheinbaum remarked that, “To change the name of an international sea, it is not a country that changes it. It is an international organization that does this,” indicating that the decision lacked diplomatic authority (The Hill).

In addition to Google, Apple Maps has also followed suit in changing the name, with reports confirming that updates have been implemented across major digital mapping platforms, including Microsoft’s Bing Maps (Africa News). As the controversy continues, major news outlets like the Associated Press have indicated they will persist in using the original name while acknowledging the recent federal directive for the Gulf’s renaming (BBC).