This month during a traveling press conference at his Mar-a-Lago home, the President-elect of the United States Donald Trump Announce to him Latest vision To review a world map: “We’re going to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to America’s Gulf, which has a nice ring to it.”

went to I repeat Approvingly: “This covers a large area of ​​land, the Gulf of America. What a beautiful name.”

The Gulf of Mexico, which extends along the eastern coast of Mexico and borders five states in the southern United States, is a major international center for shipping, fishing, oil exploration and other commercial activities. The water body was christened as such More than four centuries ago Before the United States or Mexico existed.

Of course, the unilateral renaming of the Gulf by the US President would not require the approval of Mexico or any other country. Additional mapping adjustments recently introduced by Incoming Commander include: Capture of the Panama Canaland wrest control of it Greenland And annexation Canada.

Aside from the “beautiful ring” Trump detected in the Gulf of Mexico’s impending new name, the proposed move is consistent with his track record of extreme hostility toward Mexico, a country he said is disproportionately made up of “Mexicos.”Rapists“And other criminals. Speaking of ‘beautiful,’ Trump repeatedly demanded during his first term as president that Mexico pay the ‘beautiful’ bill.”Big, beautiful wallHe envisioned the project being located on the border between the United States and Mexico.

In fact, Trump viciously blames the United States’ southern neighbor for the flow of “illegal” immigrants and drugs to the North – as if American demand for illicit substances and North America’s bipartisan efforts are heading north. The US habit of destroying other people’s countries It has nothing to do with fueling drug trafficking and migration. The American economy certainly does not Accreditation Undocumented and exploitable labor plays no role in the equation.

Not one to miss an opportunity for repeated hypocrisy, Trump delivered the following warning To his declaration of the Gulf of Mexico at Mar-a-Lago: “Mexico must stop allowing millions of people to flood into our country.” In any case, renaming the bay would certainly put the Mexicans in their place.

At the very least, the “American Gulf” project is less aggressive than previous ideas that emerged from Trump’s mind, such as the “American Gulf” project. Launching missiles at Mexico To fight drug cartels – organizations that owe their existence to the concurrent American demand Criminalization of drugs.

The hype around the renaming also provides a convenient distraction from the actual problems – which is what Trump’s bombastic xenophobia was intended to do in the first place.

Far-right US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, for example, wasted no time responding to Trump’s call to arms. Just two days after the press conference at Mar-a-Lago, Florida, she introduced a bill that would rename the Gulf of Mexico in accordance with the wishes of the president-elect.

According to Political website The Hill, the bill “would direct the Chairman of the Secretary of the Interior’s Board of Geographic Names to rename all federal documents and maps within 180 days of signing the bill.” Green added her persuasive sales pitch: “It’s our Gulf. The correct name is America’s Gulf, and that’s what the whole world should call it.”

As it turns out, this is not the first time American politicians have proposed renaming the Gulf of Mexico. Associated Press condition He recalls an incident in 2012 when a member of the Mississippi Legislature introduced a bill to assign the name “American Gulf” to portions of bodies of water that touch Mississippi’s shores — “a move the bill’s author later referred to as a ‘joke’.”

On the other hand, going back a bit on the regional timeline, the Gulf of Mexico hosted another egregious example of imperial arrogance that emerged in 1914 under Democratic US President Woodrow Wilson. The Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum website has commemoration The “Tampico Incident” of that year was named after the port city in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas on the Gulf of Mexico where “US warships were sitting off the coast to protect US oil interests.”

The previous year, a coup against Mexican President Francisco I Madero occurred with the help of the then United States Ambassador to Mexico, bringing General Victoriano Huerta to power. By 1914, the new US ambassador to Mexico was supporting opposition to Huerta, whose forces had the audacity to detain nine American sailors while the fleet of American warships continued to station innocently off the coast.

In a version of the incident provided by the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum, “the commander of U.S. forces in the area requested a 21-gun salute and an apology from Huerta after the sailors were quickly released.” The Mexican government rejected these demands, and “President Wilson used the events as a reason to request authorization from Congress for an armed invasion of Mexico.”

And voila: “Events soon led to an occupation [the port city of] Veracruz by American forces.

In other words, there are a lot of reasons why people might oppose renaming the Gulf of Mexico.

While Trump’s insistence on acting like a caricature of himself makes it easy to paint him as an aberration in US foreign policy, at the end of the day, it’s imperialism plain and simple — and that’s something you just can’t do. Rename.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.