Mexico sues Google over Gulf of Mexico name

Shortly after Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States, Google changed the name of the 'Gulf of Mexico' on Google Maps to the 'Gulf of America.' Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has filed a lawsuit against Google over this change.

Mexico says it's suing Google for labeling Gulf of Mexico as Trump-preferred Gulf of America - CBS News
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mexico-sues-google-gulf-of-mexico-gulf-of-america-label/

Mexico is suing Google over how it's labeling the Gulf of Mexico | The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/news/664796/mexico-lawsuit-google-gulf-of-mexico-america

Since President Trump was inaugurated on January 20, 2025, he has signed an executive order to rename several place names. One of these was to rename 'Gulf of Mexico' to 'Gulf of America'. In line with this, Google has changed the notation of 'Gulf of Mexico' on Google Maps to 'Gulf of America'. However, this is only when accessing Google Maps from the United States. If you access Google Maps from Mexico, it will continue to be displayed as 'Gulf of Mexico' as before, and if you access it from a region other than the United States or Mexico, it will be displayed as 'Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)'.

Google Maps changes name to 'Gulf of America', but continues to use 'Gulf of Mexico' in Mexico - GIGAZINE

In response, President Sheinbaum sent a letter of protest to Google, arguing that the term 'Gulf of the Americas' should only apply to the Gulf coast on the US continental shelf.

Mexican president protests over Google Maps changing 'Gulf of Mexico' to 'Gulf of America' and suggests changing 'America' to 'Mexican America' - GIGAZINE

However, Chris Turner, Google's vice president of government relations and public policy, told the Mexican government that the company had no plans to change its policy.

Furthermore, on Thursday, May 8, 2025, a bill to enact President Trump's name change to American Bay was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. This requires federal agencies to update maps accordingly.

The next day, on Friday, May 9, 2025, President Sheinbaum revealed that he had sued Google. In a press conference, President Sheinbaum said, 'We have no say in changing the names of states, mountains, or lakes. So they're free to call what they want what's in the U.S. territory. But they can't rename what's in Mexico. The same goes for what's in Cuba. We just ask Google to 'follow the orders issued by the U.S. government.' The U.S. doesn't have the authority to name the entire Gulf of Mexico because it's an international property.'

Below is video of President Sheinbaum's press conference.

Conferencia presidenta Sheinbaum - YouTube


CBS News has reached out to Google for comment but has not received a response at the time of writing.

The Trump administration has also requested that non-governmental organizations refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. However, when the Associated Press did not comply with this name change, the Trump administration banned its reporters from accessing some White House facilities . However, a federal court ordered the Trump administration to lift the access restrictions.

In addition, Apple's own map service, 'Maps,' has also changed the notation of the Gulf of Mexico to 'Gulf of America.'

Apple's original 'Maps' will also change the notation of the Gulf of Mexico to 'Gulf of America' - GIGAZINE