Donald Trump decreed that the Gulf of Mexico should be called the Gulf of America.

Posted by All In with Chris Hayes, Sep 19, 2026Checked Oct 30, 2026

Polygraph verdictTrue

Sources: 5 support3 context
Said: 1 time·
Confidence: 92%

All In with Chris HayesSep 19, 2026

Multiple primary and tier1 sources confirm that Trump issued Executive Order 14172 on January 20, 2025 directing the Interior Secretary to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, which the Interior Department implemented.

What was said

… So yeah, this is a huge escalation, but Donald Trump's war on the press is nothing new. You remember almost as soon as he came into office, he moved to ban Associated Press reporters from the Oval Office and Air Force one and from Mar-a-Lago, because they had the audacity to keep calling the Gulf of Mexico by its actual name after Donald Trump decreed that it should be called the Gulf of America. The AP is suing, and that case is still in the courts. It is certainly, it is certainly no secret that Donald Trump is always eager to yell at journalists, especially, especially when they are women. Who are you with? I'm a CNN. Fake news. …

All In with Chris Hayes · Sep 19, 2026· from the transcriptPost →

What we found

Supports. Executive Order 14172, cited in the Federal Register proclamation and the Florida DEP resolution, was signed January 20, 2025 and directed renaming the area formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.[4][5][6]

Supports. Reuters reports the Interior Department officially changed the name to the Gulf of America on January 24, 2025, as directed by the President.[1]

Supports. Lead Stories fact-checked the scope of the order and confirmed it directs the Secretary of the Interior to rename the entire body of water formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico.[2]

Context. Snopes and Wikipedia note the executive order only binds the federal executive branch; Congress has not enacted the change and federal law still uses Gulf of Mexico, and Mexico disputes the scope of the order.[3][7][8]

Sources

8 sources: 3 fact-checkers, 3 primary, 2 not rated

1'Gulf of America' name change now official, Trump ...reuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
2Fact Check: Trump's 'Gulf of America' Order Does NOT Enforce 'New Borders' Under Decision by the 'World Court' | Lead Storiesleadstories.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
3Trump can rename an ocean. But can he force people to use the ...snopes.com · fact-checker · cited for: context
4Presidential Documents - GovInfogovinfo.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
5[PDF] R E S O L U T I O N WHEREAS, on January 20, 2025, President ...floridadep.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
62025-15051.xmlfederalregister.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
7Mexico says it might sue Google over 'Gulf of America' name change on Mapsnbcwashington.com · not rated · cited for: context
8Gulf of Mexico naming controversy - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org · not rated · cited for: context

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Said in 1 published post

All In with Chris Hayes · Sep 19, 2026Post →

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