While Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he wanted to rename the Gulf of Mexico, “the Gulf of America”, it was the turn of Claudia Sheinbaum, the Mexican president, to respond. She suggests in turn renaming the “United States of Mexican America”.
“Sounds good, right? » she would have said during a press conference. To illustrate her point, the politician presented an old map dating from the 17th century in which a large part of North America was designated as “Mexican America”.
“Maintain a good relationship” with Trump despite everything
Donald Trump, during a conference on Tuesday, declared: “We are going to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, that sounds good.” At the same time, he also said that Mexico must “stop letting millions of people in” and threatened to impose 25% customs duties on Mexican imports if the Mexican government did not strengthen its controls at border and did not fight more against drug trafficking.
Claudia Sheinbaum’s proposal, although ironic, illustrates the growing tensions between the two nations a few days before the inauguration of Donald Trump. Despite these differences, Claudia Sheinbaum said she wanted to “maintain a good relationship” with the president-elect, building on the previous cordial relations between Mr. Trump and former Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
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“Our country is governed by the people”
On Tuesday, during his press conference, Donald Trump also revived his controversial ambitions, expressed during his first term, such as the annexation of the Panama Canal and Greenland. He further claimed that Mexico was run by drug cartels, an accusation to which Claudia Sheinbaum responded firmly: “Our country is ruled by the people.”
The president-elect also announced his intention to classify Mexican cartels as terrorist groups, a measure he had considered during his previous term but which he had ultimately suspended at the request of López Obrador (the predecessor of the current president). ). Claudia Sheinbaum strongly rejects this idea, arguing that it would harm Mexican sovereignty and risk opening the door to possible US military intervention.
Mexico: America’s leading trading partner
Mexico remains the United States’ largest trading partner, which accentuates the importance of peaceful bilateral cooperation. However, Donald Trump’s provocative statements and Claudia Sheinbaum’s sharp responses highlight the challenges the two nations will face in maintaining a balanced relationship.
With vital trade and sensitive political issues, the rhetoric of the coming months could define the direction relations between these two interdependent neighbors take.
