Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free
Your guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the world
Claudia Sheinbaum on Wednesday responded to US president-elect Donald Trump’s proposal to name the Gulf of Mexico, suggesting that the US territory that was once part of Mexico should be called “Mexican America “.
President of Mexico comments come after Trump on Tuesday called The Gulf of Mexico will be renamed “The Gulf of America” and for Canada to become an American country in terms that risked undermining one of the world’s largest business groups.
Trump’s comments came during a freewheeling press conference, where he again refused to rule out using force to get Greenland or taking control of the Panama Canal.
The president-elect, who takes office in less than two weeks, has threatened to impose 25% tariffs on all goods from Mexico and Canada unless his neighbors do more to curb immigration and drugs. crossing its two borders – despite the trilateral trade. bloc free trade agreement, USMCA.
In his morning news conference on Wednesday Sheinbaum noted that part of the US territory, including California and Texas, was part of the Spanish empire and later independent of Mexico until it gave the land to Washington in the 19th century.
“We’ll call it ‘Mexican America’, sounds good doesn’t it?” he told reporters, showing a colonial-era map from 1607.
The leaders of Mexico and Canada are grappling with how to respond to Trump’s increasingly aggressive rhetoric against their countries without alienating their domestic audiences.
Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister, who flew to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort for dinner in late November after the threat of tariffs was first raised, said “there is snowball’s chance in hell” for his country to become part of the US. .
Earlier in the week, Conservative Ontario Premier Doug Ford made Trump a “controversial offer” to buy Alaska and Minnesota, two US states that share borders with Canada.
In December, Ford be initiated a multi-million dollar advertising campaign promoting Ontario’s economic and cultural ties to the US in order to counter Trump’s anti-Canada sentiment.
Melanie Joly, Canada’s foreign minister, said Trump’s comments “show a complete lack of understanding of what makes Canada a strong country”. “We cannot back down in the face of threats,” he said of X.
Sheinbaum, a left-wing leader who took office in October, has taken a more confrontational approach to Trump than other world leaders since winning the US election. At first he talked about retaliatory charges against Washington, although the two have since spoken by phone and avoided making disparaging comments about each other in public.
His government is preparing for the deportation of more Mexicans and possibly foreign nationals across its northern border, as well as pressure for more US involvement in the fight against drug cartels, except for a possible trade war.
US-born Republican Georgane Burke, a partner at the Ottawa-based Pathway Group, an independent accounting firm, said Trump does not know of Canada or Mexico willing to give up their sovereignty.
He said: “He’s been picking on Canadians but I think it’s too much and no reason has been given.