Mexico Sues Google Over ‘Gulf of America’ Label As Sheinbaum Pushes Back On Trump Renaming Order

The Mexican government has filed a legal complaint against Google after the tech giant adopted U.S. government terminology labeling the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” on its Maps platform for users inside the United States.

President Claudia Sheinbaum announced the lawsuit this week, denouncing the renaming as an overreach of U.S. territorial claims and a disregard for Mexico’s sovereignty over its own coastal waters.

“Google is already being sued. There has already been a first resolution, and it is awaited,” Sheinbaum said at a press conference. “What we are saying is that Google should put Gulf of America where it is Gulf of America, which is the part that corresponds to the territory of the United States, and put Gulf of Mexico to the territorial part that corresponds to Mexico and Cuba.”

The dispute stems from a directive issued by President Donald Trump shortly after taking office in which he renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America.” Trump characterized the change as a tribute to “American greatness,” despite the gulf’s original name having been in continuous use since the 16th century.

While the order carries no international legal weight, Google has complied with the U.S. government’s naming directive within its American-facing services, citing longstanding internal policy to follow official U.S. geographic naming standards via the federal Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).

Mexico’s Foreign Ministry had previously issued letters to Google urging the company not to apply the new name to Mexican territorial waters. Those appeals were unsuccessful, prompting the current legal action.

Though symbolic in nature, the case reflects growing tensions between Sheinbaum’s administration and Washington, particularly over questions of cultural identity, regional sovereignty, and the influence of American tech companies abroad.

The name change has also sparked political controversy in the U.S. In February, the White House barred the Associated Press from the press pool for continuing to refer to the waterway as the Gulf of Mexico, accusing the news agency of “defying official nomenclature.”

President Trump had advocated for the new name since before taking office, after Sheinbaum – then Mexico City’s mayor – jokingly proposed rebranding North America as “Mexican America,” referencing a phrase in an early draft of Mexico’s constitution. That quip reportedly prompted Trump’s advisers to push the Gulf renaming as a direct rebuke.

While Trump’s executive order applies only to U.S. federal agencies and does not require recognition by other countries or international bodies, Mexico’s legal complaint could set a precedent in challenging the global reach of U.S. policies via digital platforms.

A spokesperson for Google declined to comment on the pending litigation but reiterated the company’s policy of aligning map labels with official government data in each region.