MEXICO CITY, Mexico: Mexico’s president took a swipe at Donald Trump on Wednesday, saying that the United States should be called “Mexican America,” after Trump’s vow to rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.”
At her regular morning press conference, Claudia Sheinbaum displayed a 17th-century world map showing North America as “Mexican America.”
Pointing out that the Gulf of Mexico was the name recognised by the United Nations, she turned the tables on Trump, saying: “Why don’t we call it (the United States) Mexican America?”
“It sounds nice, doesn’t it?”
“He talked about name, we too are talking about the name,” she said.
Despite the recent exchanges, Sheinbaum expressed optimism about future bilateral relations. “I think there will be a good relationship,” she said. “President Trump has his way of communicating.”
“The fact is that Mexican America is recognised since the 17th century… as the name for the whole northern part of the (American) continent,” Suarez del Real explained, highlighting the area on the map.
Trabajamos por cumplir el derecho a una vivienda digna para las y los mexicanos que más lo necesitan https://t.co/EAZtmajOtG
— Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo (@Claudiashein) January 8, 2025
Trump, who will be sworn in for a second term on January 20, said Tuesday he planned to rename the Gulf of Mexico “the Gulf of America, which has a beautiful ring.”
“It’s appropriate. And Mexico has to stop allowing millions of people to pour into our country,” he said.
He also claimed that Mexico was run by drug cartels, to which Sheinbaum responded that “in Mexico, the people rule.”
In the run-up to his return to office, Trump has repeatedly lashed out at Mexico, threatening to impose stiff tariffs on imports from one of the United States’ biggest trading partners unless it halted the flow of illegal migrants and drugs across the border.
He has also revived a threat from his first term to designate Mexican drug cartels as terrorist groups.
Trump said Mexico is “really in trouble, a lot of trouble, very dangerous place.”
He also vowed to put “very serious” tariffs on Mexico and Canada.
It’s his latest suggestion to redraw the map of the Western Hemisphere. Trump has repeatedly referred to Canada as the “51st State,” demanded that Denmark consider ceding Greenland, and called for Panama to return the Panama Canal.
