Mexico Sues Google Over ‘Gulf of America’ Name Change

The Mexican government threatened a lawsuit back in February.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum attends her morning press conference at the National Palace in Mexico City, April 2, 2025. Marco Ugarte, File/AP Photo

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced a lawsuit against Google on May 9 over the tech giant’s decision to follow President Donald Trump’s executive order and change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.

Sheinbaum made the announcement during her daily press briefing but did not release any further details.

Her decision follows several attempts made by her administration to stop Google from renaming the entire body of water, with the Mexican secretary of foreign affairs, Juan Ramón de la Fuente, requesting that the name for the areas falling within Mexican territorial waters remain unchanged.

The Mexican government threatened legal action in February, stating, “Under no circumstance will Mexico accept the renaming of a geographic zone within its own territory and under its jurisdiction.”

The Epoch Times has reached out to Google for comment.

Roughly 46 percent of the Gulf is controlled by the United States, 49 percent by Mexico, and five percent by Cuba.

A bill seeking to codify Trump’s order into law passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 211–206, with one Republican and every Democrat voting against it. It now moves to the Senate. If passed, maps and federal documents will have 180 days from the bill’s enactment to make the necessary changes.

Florida became the first state to officially recognize the change in name when Gov. Ron DeSantis signed HB 575 and HB 549 into law. Going into effect on July 1, 2025, they require all references to the Gulf of Mexico in statutes to be changed to Gulf of America, as well as in K-12 education material.

Google said on Jan. 28 that it will change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America on Google Maps once the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is updated, keeping with a longstanding tradition of tying its labels to the organization.

As of May 10, the Gulf appears in Google Maps as Gulf of America within the territory of the United States, as Gulf of Mexico within Mexico, and Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America) elsewhere. The company also followed Trump’s order and changed Alaska’s Denali mountain back to Mt. McKinley, named after President William McKinley.

Aldgra Fredly, Jackson Richman, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.