"That's Not Going To Play Too Well": Trump Nearly Named Gulf Of Mexico After Himself

US President Donald Trump briefly thought about renaming the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of Trump”, but chose not to go ahead with the idea.

During an interview with Fox News, he discussed his earlier move to rechristen the water body as the “Gulf of America.” The change was introduced through an executive order signed at the start of his second term in the White House.

Referring to that decision, Trump said, “Now, it's called the Gulf of America, because of me. One of the little things that I did.”

He also asked, “Why is it the Gulf of Mexico when we have 93% of the shoreline?”

Explaining how the naming ideas evolved, he admitted that at one point, he considered using his own name.

“I must tell you, I was thinking about calling it the ‘Gulf of Trump' and I decided not to do it,” he said. Trump added that he eventually dropped the thought, saying, “You know, that's not going to play too well.”

'GULF OF TRUMP': President Trump tells Maria Bartiromo he had a different name in mind after changing the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.

"I was thinking about, it's going to be called the Gulf of Trump. And then I said, you know, that's not going to play too well." pic.twitter.com/1FtmrvqYRt

— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 12, 2026

The US controls around 46% of the Gulf's shoreline, significantly lower than the figure Trump mentioned.

Trump has, on several occasions, suggested naming public spaces and institutions after himself. In some cases, those ideas have later been implemented. 

For instance, he had last August pointed out that some people were already calling the Kennedy Center the “Trump-Kennedy Center,” a change that was officially adopted by December. His administration also renamed the US Institute of Peace after him.