Google Maps will officially rename Gulf of Mexico but it might not be what you think

Google Maps has issued an update after Donald Trump announced he would be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.

And it turns out there's a catch in the location service's T&Cs which has limited Trump's authority on the matter.

Trump's new executive orders about Mexico

During his inauguration speech last week (20 Jan), the Republican leader made it clear he would both tighten restrictions on potential international influence of the US, and crack down on immigration.

He declared a 'national emergency' at the US-Mexican border, and outlined a ban on travel for refugees and asylum seekers, explaining: "We will seal our border and bring back the travel ban.

"Remember the famous travel ban? We didn’t take people from certain areas of the world. We're not taking them from infested countries."

At the time, he also declared that illegal entry to America would 'immediately be halted' and that 'criminal aliens' would be returned to 'where they came from'.

And as well as announcing the 'largest deportation programme in history' and reinstating the controversial 'Remain in Mexico' programme, 78-year-old Trump declared that the Gulf's title would be changed to the 'Gulf of America'.

The 'Gulf of America'

Trump vowed to change the name of the Gulf ahead of his inauguration (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Discussing the 1,700-mile-long coastline, Trump described the Gulf as an 'integral asset' to the States, the 'natural resources and wildlife' of which he claims 'remain central to America’s economy today'.

He'd previously made the controversial suggestion at a conference in Mar-a-Lago, Florida on 7 January, where he described the potential new name as having a 'nice ring to it'.

"The Gulf of America, what a beautiful name and it's appropriate," he added at the time.

Will it be changed on Google Maps?

According to The Telegraph, bosses at Google maps will abide by Trump's wishes to change the name.

Google Maps agreed to change the name - but only in America (Mateusz Slodkowski/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

But, once the Geographic Names Information System gives the official go-ahead, the 'Gulf of America' will only be visible to users of the app/website living in the States.

For the rest of the world - including Mexico - the water will still appear on Google Maps under the title of the 'Gulf of Mexico'.

The tech firm also agreed to rename Mount Denali - the US' highest mountain - to Mount McKinley, as per Trump's request.

"We have a longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources," a spokesperson for Google told press this week.

"For geographic features in the US, this is when Geographic Names Information System is updated. When that happens, we will update Google Maps in the US quickly to show Mount McKinley and Gulf of America.

"When official names vary between countries, Maps users see their official local name. Everyone in the rest of the world sees both names.

"That applies here too."

Mexico's verdict

The President of Mexico previously spoke out about Trump's controversial plans (Alessa Mejia/ObturadorMX/Getty Images)

Following the announcement of Trump's name change, the President of Mexico - Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo - announced that US residents can abide by his name-change all they want, but that Mexicans would not be following in tow.

Laughing at the prospect during a press conference last Tuesday (21 Jan), she declared: "He says that he will call it the Gulf of America on its continental shelf.

"For us it is still the Gulf of Mexico, and for the entire world it is still the Gulf of Mexico."

She added: "Regarding the decrees that President Donald Trump signed yesterday, I would like to say the following: The people of Mexico can be sure that we will always defend our sovereignty and our independence."

Using Trump's own logic to refute him, Pardo also argued in response that the US should rename itself 'Mexican American' based on a 17th century map which supports this title for the area.