Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is threatening to sue Google for displaying “Gulf of America” on its maps, claiming that Trump only renamed the United States portion of the gulf.
Sheinbaum contends that President Donald Trump’s executive order covers only the U.S. continental shelf, leaving the rest of the body of water under Mexican and Cuban jurisdiction, per The Washington Post.
“What Google is doing here is changing the name of the continental shelf of Mexico and Cuba, which has nothing to do with Trump’s decree,” Sheinbaum said in a press briefing on Monday. “We do not agree with this.”
Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday the country is awaiting a new response from Google to its request that the tech company fully restore the name Gulf of Mexico to its Google Maps service before filing a lawsuit. pic.twitter.com/u5MkAC40vp
— CBS News (@CBSNews) February 18, 2025
Mexican Foreign Secretary Juan Ramón de la Fuente has sent Google a letter formally requesting the company change its policy and is awaiting a response, and “under no circumstance will Mexico accept the renaming of a geographic zone within its own territory and under its jurisdiction.”
“We will wait for Google’s response and if not, we will proceed to court,” Sheinbaum warned.
Currently, Google Maps only names the body of water “Gulf of America” for users in the United States, with international users still seeing “Gulf of Mexico.”
Cris Turner, Google’s vice president of government affairs and public policy, defended the naming move as “consistent with our normal operating procedure to reflect on our platforms geographic names prescribed by different authoritative government sources, including where authoritative sources may differ.”
The United States controls around 46% of the gulf, Mexico holds about 49%, and Cuba oversees the remainder.
The Trump administration nonetheless appears committed to renaming the Gulf. The White House refuses to allow reporters from the Associated Press to attend events in the Oval Office or accompany President Donald Trump on Air Force One, citing the outlet’s decision to keep referencing the body of water by its traditional name.
