Lawmaker Backs “Gulf of America” Switch in Texas Constitution

On his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the Secretary of the Interior to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America within 30 days.

Now, a Texas lawmaker is seeking to enshrine that name change in Texas law.

State Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, on Wednesday filed a bill and a joint resolution to replace the Gulf of Mexico with the Gulf of America in the state constitution, and to use the Trump-backed name in future state statutes.

“For too long, we have referred to the body of water bordering our great state as the Gulf of Mexico — when in reality, it belongs to America,” Cain wrote in a statement posted to X. “Texas must lead the charge in affirming our national identity and rejecting the globalist mindset that seeks to diminish our greatness.”

Cain’s House Bill 2246 would require that state agencies and employees only refer to the body of water as the Gulf of America in the future, because the Gulf of Mexico as a name “is inaccurate and outdated.” It also would direct lawmakers and the nonpartisan Legislative Research Council to use Trump’s nomenclature when enacting or amending bills.

House Joint Resolution 128 would replace all references to the Gulf of Mexico in the Texas constitution with “Gulf of America” by constitutional amendment, which would require support from the Senate in addition to the House and a vote to adopt the change by the people of Texas.

The Texas Constitution refers to the Gulf of Mexico by name in four of its articles.

Earlier this month, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott suggested that the gulf instead be named after Texas.

Mexican government officials have been publicly dismissive of the name changes, including its president, Claudia Sheinbaum. In a press conference earlier this month, she noted that the Gulf of Mexico has been named that since 1607.

Google Maps already has changed the name to the Gulf of America for users in the United States, in order to comply with “official government sources,” the company explained in a post on X. Users in Mexico still will see it labeled with its historical name, while users outside the two countries will see both. Sheinbaum has asked the company to reconsider that action.

In another press conference after Trump’s inauguration, Sheinbaum laughed at Trump’s executive order.

“He says that he will call it the Gulf of America on its continental shelf,” she said. “For us it is still the Gulf of Mexico, and for the entire world it is still the Gulf of Mexico.”