House Republican: Gulf of Mexico name less important than Trump's actions
Jan 08, 2025
Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.) said President-elect Trump’s musing about changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America is less important than his actions in the region, particularly when it comes to curbing illegal fishing and drug trafficking.
“As for the Gulf of Mexico, Gulf of America, again, I’ve spent some of my best days on that water, I don’t think the name of it is as important as how we are going to handle law enforcement in that area,” Scott, who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, said during his Wednesday morning appearance on Fox Business Network.
The Georgia Republican said “there’s a tremendous amount of illegal activity that occurs in that body of water and I think that the president is intent on stopping [it], whether it would be the illegal fishing and the cartels are illegally fishing in that gulf or the illegal transit across the gulf that’s bringing narcotics and drugs into our country.”
Scott’s remarks on the network came as Trump mentioned during a press conference the idea of changing the name of the gulf, comments that came as he criticized Mexico.
“We’re going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America,” Trump said on Tuesday. “What a beautiful name. And it’s appropriate. It’s appropriate. And Mexico has to stop allowing millions of people to pour into our country.”
Shortly after Trump’s comments, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a close Trump ally, said she will introduce legislation to turn Trump’s remarks into reality.
“I will be introducing legislation ASAP to officially change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to its rightful name, the Gulf of America,” she said in a post on Tuesday.
Trump has directed criticism toward Mexico and Canada following his early November general election victory, and even threatened America's biggest trading partners with 25-percent tariffs.
“So, whether it's called America, Gulf of America or Gulf of Mexico, I care more about the enforcement mechanism in that body of water - making sure that the illegal activity is stopped,” Scott told Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo on “Mornings With Maria.”