Featured Image Credit: Google Maps
Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, US News, News, World News
Rhianna Benson
Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, US News, News, World News
Donald Trump has followed through on his controversial plan to change the official name of the Gulf of Mexico, to the 'Gulf of America' - according to Google Maps.
The pledge formed part of 78-year-old Trump's wider initiative to tighten restrictions on potential international influence of the US, and crack down on immigration.
Apparently, however, when it comes to the body of water's title change, there's a slight catch...
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Trump first suggested at a conference in Mar-a-Lago, Florida on 7 Jan, that the title of the Gulf be changed, describing the potential new name as having a 'nice ring to it'.
"The Gulf of America, what a beautiful name and it's appropriate," he added at the time.
Similar comments were subsequently made as part of Trump's official inauguration speech on 20 Jan - which sent Washington D.C. Capital Rotunda attendee Hilary Clinton into a fit of giggles at the time.
On 28 Jan, however, the Telegraph reported that bosses at Google Maps had promised to abide by Trump's wishes to change the name, but that certain terms and conditions would apply.
It was alleged at the time that the new name, the 'Gulf of America', would only be visible to users of the app/website living in the States.
For those living in the rest of the world - including Mexico - the stream would still appear on Google Maps under the title of the 'Gulf of Mexico'.
Bosses at the Google consumer application added that they'd also agreed to rename Mount Denali - the US' highest mountain - to Mount McKinley, as per another of Trump's requests.
A spokesperson for Google Maps previously told press: "We have a longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources."
"For geographic features in the US, this is when Geographic Names Information System is updated. When that happens, we will update Google Maps in the US quickly to show Mount McKinley and Gulf of America.
"When official names vary between countries, Maps users see their official local name. Everyone in the rest of the world sees both names.
"That applies here too."
It was previously reported that the change would depend on the Geographic Names Information System giving the go-ahead - which it has seemingly done now, and for US users of the app, the water now appears to be named the 'Gulf of America', as per Pop Base.
Following Trump's initial promise, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo - the President of Mexico - declared that US residents can abide by his name-change all they want, but insisted that Mexicans would not be following in suit.
"He says that he will call it the Gulf of America on its continental shelf," she laughed at the initial prospect during a press conference on 21 Jan.
"For us it is still the Gulf of Mexico, and for the entire world it is still the Gulf of Mexico."
Pardo added: "Regarding the decrees that President Donald Trump signed yesterday, I would like to say the following: The people of Mexico can be sure that we will always defend our sovereignty and our independence."
And later, using Trump's own logic to refute him, she went on to argue that the US should rename itself 'Mexican American', based on a 17th century map which supports this title for the area.