Navigating the 'Gulf of America'

Contrary to what Google and Apple imply, Trump's new name is showing up outside the country. It just depends on who you are and where you come from.

I’d noted in our Weekend Report that I’d be taking off this week from my SiriusXM program, a short break from the madness—and the brutally cold weather of New York. Am posting here lightly, putting up a couple of the crazy MAGA calls to my show last week.

But I wanted to post this short observation from outside the U.S, pointing out the deception of Google’s and Apple’s claims that, when geo-locating on your phone or other device, “Gulf of America” is only showing up in the U.S., while “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)” is being shown outside the country. They’re apparently leaving something out: “Gulf of Mexico” is not showing up for all people outside the U.S.

Apple followed Google this week after Trump’s executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America”, though neither his order nor any law compels these companies to do so. I think we all agree it is outright capitulation and obeying in advance for these tech companies—that donated millions to Trump’s inauguration and met with him to get in on the goods of deregulation and to avoid retaliation—to change the name for any group of people in any country.

Apple Maps

Trump doesn’t have the authority to rename bodies of water for the entire world. If Mexico and other countries do not recognize them, that is their prerogative, and almost all countries aren’t recognizing the change.

I’m in Colombia, and on the maps—both Apple’s Maps and Google Maps—I’m now seeing Gulf of America on my phone and devices.

When I pointed this out on Bluesky, some responded that if I am still registered in the U.S. with an American cellular and data service, that is the likely reason. Several pointed that if I expand the view—widen it—I would see Gulf of Mexico. But I am not.

Beyond that, why should Americans leaving the country still be forced to see Gulf of America? I understand how the technology works. But think about how censorship and propaganda work as well: Trump is not only, with the help of big tech, feeding state propaganda to the American public inside the U.S. in the way China does to its citizens in censoring tech platforms when it comes to Taiwan and many other issues; Trump is walling off our ability to see the reality the rest of the world sees, even as we leave the country. Very eerie.