Associated Press Defies Trump, Will Continue to Use 'Gulf of Mexico'

The Associated Press will defy Donald Trump's executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America," and will continue to use the long-established name in their articles.

Amanda Barrett, AP's vice president of standards and inclusion, shared in an announcement that the major American news outlet will continue to refer to the body of water as the Gulf of Mexico due to their coverage of other countries, who are not legally required to recognize the name change.

"As a global news agency that disseminates news around the world, the AP must ensure that place names and geography are easily recognizable to all audiences," Barrett said.

AP plans to acknowledge the region's new name given by Trump just like how they would refer to other areas of the world that are known by multiple names, such as how the Gulf of California is also referred to as the Sea of Cortez.

The outlet does plan to follow Trump's executive order to rename Denali to Mount McKinley, and will refer to the Alaskan mountain as such. AP cited how the peak lies only in the United States as their reason for doing so.

Communities around the world have referred to the Gulf of Mexico by that name for more than 400 years. Mount McKinley, named after former President William McKinley, was renamed to Denali by former President Barack Obama in 2015 to honor the traditions of Alaskan Natives.