Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Wednesday sarcastically responded to US President Donald Trump's proposal to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to “The Gulf of America.”
Standing in front of a 17th-century world map in her daily press briefing, Sheinbaum dryly suggested that North America should be renamed “América Mexicana,” or “Mexican America,” because the founding document of the going back to 1814 which preceded the Mexican constitution referring to it in that way. .
“That's good, isn't it?” she added with a sarcastic tone. She also noted that the Gulf of Mexico had been named as such since 1607.
ALFREDO ESTRELLA/AFP via Getty Images
Trump made the comments at an open Mar-a-Lago press conference he also attended he did not dismiss it the use of military or economic coercion to bring it Greenland and the Panama Canal controlled by the US.
“We're going to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which has a beautiful ring,” Trump said. “That covers a lot of land, the Gulf of America. What a beautiful name. And it fits. It is appropriate. And Mexico must stop allowing millions of people to pour into our country.”
Trump's Republican representative, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, said she would participate statute to that point Thursday morning.
The exchange has begun to answer a larger question about the bilateral relationship between the two regional powers: How would the newly elected Sheinbaum handle Trump's aggressive diplomatic approach, and promises of many trade and heavy tariffs on trading partners such as Mexico?
Sheinbaum's predecessor and political adviser Andrés Manuel López Obrador – who came from the same kind of class republic as Trump, even if he leaned left – was able to build a relationship with Trump as an ally, and his government began has prevented migrants from going north. under US pressure, to Trump's advantage.
But it was unclear whether Mexico's first female president, a scientist and unpopular leftist who brought López Obrador to power, would be able to build the same relationship.
While Wednesday's joke quickly crossed social media feeds, it also set the scene for what the Sheinbaum-Trump relationship would look like in the years to come.
“Humor can be a good tactic, it builds strength, and that's what Trump responded to. It may be the right choice in this case,” said Brian Winter, vice president of the New York-based American Council of Americans. “Although President Sheinbaum knows it won't work on his everything – Trump and his administration will want a big dialogue from Mexico on the big issues of immigration, drugs and trade.”
It follows other strong but cooperative responses from Sheinbaum regarding Trump's proposals.
Onward Trump's proposal to cut taxes by 25% on Mexican imports, Sheinbaum warned that if the new US administration imposes tariffs on Mexico, her administration would respond with similar measures. She said that a tax of any kind was “unacceptable and would cause inflation and job losses for the United States and Mexico.”
She has taken a more lenient tone on immigration, falling in line with years of Mexico's efforts to prevent migrants from traveling north amid intense pressure from the US
After initially saying her administration would push the Trump administration to send migrants back to their home countries, in January she said Mexico would be open to accepting migrants from other countries, but that Restrict Mexico to certain nationalities or demand reparations.
Canada also gave a a sarcastic response this week to Trump's recent comments about engaging America's northern neighbor. According to CTV Canada NewsOntario Premier Doug Ford was questioned by a reporter Monday about Trump's multiple threats to impose a 25% tax on products from Canada and Mexico in his first presidency, in addition to making Canada the “51st state.”
“You know something, to the president, I'll make him a counteroffer. How about if we buy Alaska, and we throw in Minnesota and Minneapolis at the same time,” said Ford.
