Comment by rootusrootus
4 hours ago
The Gulf of Mexico is not a good comparison, because he can rename that with an executive order, at least within the US. No legislation required.
4 hours ago
The Gulf of Mexico is not a good comparison, because he can rename that with an executive order, at least within the US. No legislation required.
He can make the executive branch call it The Dumpty Bowl if he wants. That doesn't mean he has renamed it. He has zero power outside the executive branch. Fortunately the United States isn't yet ruled by decree.
The names are decided by the United States Board on Geographic Names, which is under the Department of the Interior, which is part of the executive branch. So yeah, he can make them rename it for the US. Sure, you can pedantically say that he can only force the entirety of the federal government to respect the name, and the State governments could refuse to abide by that, but what would be the point? AFAIK none have outright refused. And obviously private citizens can call things whatever the heck they want, though if they get too creative they may have trouble expressing themselves in a way that others will understand.