President Donald Trump has vowed to rename North America’s tallest peak, Denali in Alaska, as Mount McKinley — reviving an idea he floated years ago that at that time saw strong pushback from state political leaders.
Mr Trump said he planned to “restore the name of a great president, William McKinley, to Mount McKinley, where it should be and where it belongs. President McKinley made our country very rich through tariffs and through talent.”
Mr Trump also announced plans to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
Alaska’s US senators in 2017 vehemently opposed a prior suggestion by Mr Trump that the name Denali be changed back to Mount McKinley.
In 2015, then-president Barack Obama changed the name to Denali to reflect the traditions of Alaska natives and acknowledge the preference of many Alaska residents.
The federal government in recent years has sought to change place names considered disrespectful to native people.
Denali is an Athabascan word meaning “the high one” or “the great one”. The 20,310-foot mountain, snow-capped and dotted with glaciers, is in Denali National Park and Preserve.
A prospector in 1896 dubbed the peak Mount McKinley after President William McKinley, who had never been to Alaska.
The name was formally recognised by the US government until Mr Obama changed it — in spite of opposition from lawmakers in McKinley’s home state of Ohio.
Mr Trump raised the notion of a name change again during a rally late last year, following his election.
“McKinley was a very good, maybe a great president,” Mr Trump said in December. “They took his name off Mount McKinley, right? That’s what they do to people.”
“America will reclaim its rightful place as the greatest, most powerful, most respected nation on Earth, inspiring the awe and admiration of the entire world,” he said on Monday.
“A short time from now, we are going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.”
It is his latest suggestion to redraw the map of the Western Hemisphere.
Mr Trump has repeatedly referred to Canada as the “51st State”, demanded that Denmark considers ceding Greenland, and called for Panama to return the Panama Canal.
Mr Trump also spoke about taking back the vital waterway during his inaugural speech.
