Joe Burbank via Zuma Press
Leave it to Ron DeSantis to use an emergency weather advisory to showcase his unending allegiance to President Donald Trump.
In a Monday state executive order warning Floridians of a fast-approaching winter storm, the governor referred to the Gulf of Mexico, as it has been referred to for at least 353 years, as the “Gulf of America.” The usage made Florida the first state to fall in line with Trump’s plans to rename the ocean basin.
“An area of low pressure moving across the Gulf of America, interacting with Arctic air, will bring widespread impactful winter weather to North Florida beginning Tuesday, January 21, 2025,” the order read.
According to the New York Times, Florida’s emergency order came even before Trump had signed an executive making the rebrand official.
Trump’s desire to rename the Gulf of Mexico comes against a slew of expansionist plans. As my colleague Tim Murphy wrote, Trump has spent the past month pushing for the US to buy Greenland, take back the Panama Canal Zone, and rename Denali, the tallest mountain in North America, to Mount McKinley—all sentiments he reiterated in his inauguration speech on Monday. (Trump didn’t technically mention Greenland in his speech, but brought up controlling the country for international security purposes while signing executive orders.)
After signing an executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico, federal agencies have 30 days to update their records accordingly.
As president, Trump does indeed have the authority to rename the gulf. But critically, other countries are not obligated to recognize it. There also might be pushback from the International Hydrographic Organization, the 100-member authority that aims to “ensure that all the world’s seas, oceans, and navigable waters are surveyed and charted.” (We’ve reached out to the IHO for comment.)
Of course, there was no such pushback among Florida Republicans. Since Florida’s weather advisory, GOP lawmakers celebrated the rebrand, including Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) who tweeted this charming map.