Trump Announces Plans to Rename Gulf of Mexico and Reverse Biden’s Offshore Drilling Restrictions

President-elect Donald Trump has announced his intention to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America” and to reverse President Biden’s recently imposed restrictions on offshore drilling. During a press conference at Mar-a-Lago, Trump stated, “We’re going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which has a beautiful ring.” He emphasized that the new name would cover a significant area and expressed his admiration for it.

The Gulf of Mexico, a major body of water in North America, has been known by its current name since the 16th century, attributed to Spanish explorers. The coastline of the gulf is nearly evenly split between Mexico and the United States, with Mexico having 1,743 miles of shoreline and the US 1 631 miles.

During his previous term, Trump attempted to rebrand US liquefied natural gas (LNG) as “freedom gas,” highlighting the role of US energy exports in global markets and promoting the idea of “energy dominance.”

In the same press conference, Trump criticized the Biden administration’s recent decision to ban new oil and gas leasing in approximately 625 million acres of federal waters, including areas off the East and West coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and parts of the northern Bering Sea in Alaska. He vowed to reverse this ban immediately, stating he would revoke the offshore drilling restrictions on his first day in office.

The Gulf of Mexico is crucial for the US energy sector, providing 97 % of the country’s Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas production, contributing 14 % of total US crude oil production and 5 % of natural gas production, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Trump’s inauguration is set for January 20th.