Alphabet’s Google is being threatened with a lawsuit by the government of Mexico, over a controversial name change on Google Maps.

Among the huge number of executive orders signed by US President Donald Trump since he took office on 20 January 2025, was one that directed the US Interior Department to change the name of the ‘Gulf of Mexico’ to the ‘Gulf of America’.

As of 12 February Trump has signed more than 60 executive orders – the most in a US president’s first 100 days in more than 40 years.

Gulf of Mexico

After the executive order, for users inside America, Google changed the ‘Gulf of Mexico’ name to the ‘Gulf of America’ on Google Maps.

Within Mexico it still appears as ‘Gulf of Mexico’ and for users outside the United States, the name on Google Maps now reads as ‘Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)’.

Apple Maps has carried out a similar change.

Google also blocked online edits to the name change, after a social media ban had urged users to flag the name change as incorrect.

The United Kingdom and other countries around the world have stated they will not recognise Trump’s ‘Gulf of America’ name change.

Indeed, the only organisations calling it the Gulf of America are US government organisations, as well as some tech firms.

Lawsuit threat

Now the Associated Press has reported Mexico as saying on Monday that it is awaiting a new response from Google to its request that the tech company fully restore the name Gulf of Mexico to its Google Maps service before filing a lawsuit.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum shared a letter addressed to her government from Cris Turner, Google’s VP of government affairs and public policy. The letter reportedly says that Google will not change the policy.

“We will wait for Google’s response and if not, we will proceed to court,” Sheinbaum reportedly said Monday during a morning press briefing.

Google’s Turner in his letter reportedly said the company was using Gulf of America to follow “longstanding maps policies impartially and consistently across all regions” and that the company was willing to meet in person with the Mexican government.

“While international treaties and conventions are not intended to regulate how private mapping providers represent geographic features, it is our consistent policy to consult multiple authoritative sources to provide the most up to date and accurate representation of the world,” he reportedly wrote.

Mexico has argued that the mapping policy violates Mexican sovereignty because the US only has jurisdiction over around 46 percent of the Gulf of Mexico.

The rest is controlled by Mexico, which controls 49 percent and Cuba, which controls around 5 percent.

It should be noted that the name Gulf of Mexico dates back to 1607, and is recognized by the United Nations.

In response to Google’s letter, Mexican authorities said they would take legal action, writing that “under no circumstance will Mexico accept the renaming of a geographic zone within its own territory and under its jurisdiction.”

Press threat

Earlier this week, the Associated Press was blocked from the Oval Office and Air Force One news briefings, until the news agency stops referring to the Gulf of Mexico.

The AP, citing editorial standards, said it would continue to use the gulf’s established name.

The AP says in its stylebook that the Gulf of Mexico has carried that name for more than 400 years (Mexico used to own large parts of the United States).

As a global news agency, the AP says it will refer to the gulf by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen.