Donald Trump’s American Rebrand
A map with Greenland being scratched by a golden coin. Photo by Lara Jameson via Pexels
After his first month in office, President Donald Trump's policies have been rapid. While other policies focus on deportation, transgender rights and federal funding, one of the most confusing changes was introduced on his first day in office.
On Jan. 20, the Gulf Of Mexico was renamed into the Gulf Of America via an executive order. According to President Trump on the White House website, he “took this action in part because, as stated in that Order, ‘The area formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico has long been an integral asset to our once burgeoning Nation and has remained an indelible part of America.’”
It’s important to note that while the Department of the Interior can rename the Gulf on American maps, other nations don't fall under this order, so it is still called the Gulf Of Mexico everywhere else.
In a similar vein, Representative Buddy Carter recently introduced the “Red, White and Blueland Act of 2025,” which would require federal agencies to identify Greenland as Red, White and Blueland.
The bill inspired this name change, as it states that “the President is authorized to enter into negotiations with the Government of Denmark to purchase or otherwise acquire Greenland.”
This bill came long after Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede said, “Greenland is ours. We are not for sale and will never be for sale. We must not lose our long struggle for freedom.”
These pushes towards purchasing Greenland follow President Trump’s wish to make Canada the 51st State, gain control of the Panama Canal as well as his interest in taking over Gaza.
Domestic reactions to the renaming of the Gulf Of Mexico and Greenland have had split reactions. Some appreciate the rebrand, such as Secretary Sean Duffy, who calls the move “taking back our language, our history and our country.”
A screenshot of the Gulf Of America from Google Maps. Screenshot From Google Maps
However, others have heavily disagreed with the need for the name to be changed. Some have even started protesting the idea, evidenced by the sharp rise in negative Google Map reviews regarding the name change. As of the writing of this article, Google has disabled reviews from being posted, as well as all ratings after the name change occurred.
In regard to Red, White, and Blueland, there have been negative replies to Rep. Carter’s post about the idea on X. Some include, “How does this lower the cost of eggs?” “How did you get elected?” and “Hey, @doge found some government waste and inefficiency.”
International reactions are even more negative. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum reacted, “He says that he will call it the Gulf of America on its continental shelf. For us, it is still the Gulf of Mexico, and for the entire world, it is still the Gulf of Mexico.”
Sheinbaum also mocked President Trump by suggesting that America should be renamed into Mexican America. “That sounds nice, no?” she remarked.
Meanwhile, Greenland has had an even stronger reaction. A recent poll found that 85% of Greenlanders don’t want to join the United States, while only 6% are in favor of the move.
This has even inspired a parody petition for the Danish government to buy the state of California from the United States using the tagline “Måke Califørnia Great Ægain,” a clear play on President Trump’s “Make America Great Again.” As of now, this poll has over 230,000 signatures. The introduction of this bill only adds even more fuel to the fire.
For a man whose campaign promised respect on the international stage, these actions only promote the opposite. From Mexico to Greenland and Denmark, President Trump’s actions in this manner are not displaying strength like he promised the American people it would. Much like how Elon Musk acquired Twitter and renamed it “X,” people don’t respect these rebrands as much as Musk and President Trump hoped they would.
Even more eye-opening is the response the Trump administration is giving to the lack of respect for these changes. A member of the Associated Press (AP) was barred from the White House after asking President Trump a question in which they referred to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
“I was very upfront in my briefing on day one that if we feel that there are lies being pushed by outlets in this room, we are going to hold those lies accountable, and it is a fact that the body of water off the coast of Louisiana is called the Gulf of America and I'm not sure why news outlets don't want to call it that,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “It's very important to this administration that we get that right not just for people here at home, but also for the rest of the world, sure.”
At best, these were failed attempts to expand American values and borders through patriotic names. At worst, they were nothing more than vain attempts to claim victories through meaningless policy measures to promote American values in the face of an increasingly unpopular administration.