Apple renames Gulf of Mexico as Gulf of America on maps

Apple Maps has renamed the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, after the Trump administration updated the U.S. database for geographic names to reflect the president’s order renaming the body of water. 

The U.S. Geographic Names Information System officially updated the name to the Gulf of America late Sunday, according to The Associated Press. Both Google Maps and Bing Maps have also renamed the gulf in response. 

Google said Monday it had begun rolling out changes to reflect the update “consistent with our longstanding practices.” 

The name of the body of water in Google Maps will depend on where a user is located. U.S. users will see “Gulf of America, while users in Mexico will still see “Gulf of Mexico.” Those outside the U.S. and Mexico will see both names, written as “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America).” 

Microsoft, which owns Bing Maps, said in a statement that it was updating its system to reflect the new nomenclature “in accordance with established product policies.” 

“We are committed to providing users with accurate and up-to-date information,” a Microsoft spokesperson said. 

The Hill has reached out to Apple for comment on its update.  

Trump signed an executive order renaming the gulf on his first day in office and directed the Department of the Interior to take all necessary steps to make the change official.  

The agency issued a press release days later, saying “the Gulf of Mexico will now officially be known as the Gulf of America.”  

While the changes were “effective immediately for federal use,” the Interior Department noted that the U.S. Board on Geographic Names was working to update the names in the U.S. Geographic Names Information System. 

Google announced last month that it would rename the body of water once the change was made in the database. The move faced pushback from Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum, who said she planned to send the tech giant a letter questioning the decision. 

“To change the name of an international sea, it is not a country that changes it. It is an international organization that does this,” she said at a press conference, according to a translation by Al Jazeera. 

The Associated Press, which provides regularly updated style guidance to news organizations and journalists, has said it will refer to the Gulf of Mexico “by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen.” 

The AP said the White House told the outlet Tuesday that it would be barred from an event in the Oval Office if it “did not align its editorial standards” with Trump’s executive order. One of its reporters was later prevented from attending an executive order signing.

“It is alarming that the Trump administration would punish AP for its independent journalism,” executive editor Julie Pace said in a statement.

“Limiting our access to the Oval Office based on the content of AP’s speech not only severely impedes the public’s access to independent news, it plainly violates the First Amendment.”