Mexico’s president calls for parts of US to be renamed ‘Mexican America’

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On Wednesday, Claudia Sheinbaum responded to US President-elect Donald Trump’s proposal to rename the Gulf of Mexico, suggesting that the US territory that was previously part of Mexico be called “Mexican America.”

The Mexican president’s comments came after Trump called on Tuesday for the Gulf of Mexico to be renamed “America’s Gulf” and for Canada to become a US state, in comments that threaten to undermine one of the world’s largest trade blocs.

Trump’s proposals came during a free-wheeling press conference, in which he also refused to rule out the use of force to obtain Greenland or control of the Panama Canal.

The president-elect, who takes office in less than two weeks, has threatened to impose 25 percent tariffs on all imports from Mexico and Canada unless his neighbors do more to prevent migrants and drugs from crossing their borders – despite trade between the three countries. The bloc’s free trade agreement, USMCA.

In her 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 Mexico until it ceded the land to Washington in the 19th century.

“We’ll call it ‘Mexican America’. Sounds nice, doesn’t it?” She told reporters as she showed a map of the area from the colonial era dating back to 1607.

The leaders of Mexico and Canada are grappling with how best to respond to Trump’s increasingly aggressive rhetoric against their countries without alienating their domestic audiences.

“There was a good chance in hell” his country would become part of the United States, said Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, who flew to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort for dinner at the end of November after the threat of tariffs was first discussed. .

Earlier in the week, Ontario’s Conservative Premier Doug Ford made Trump a “counter-offer” to buy Alaska and Minnesota, two US states that share borders with Canada.

In December, Ford launched a multi-million dollar advertising campaign to promote economic and cultural ties between Ontario and the United States in an attempt to counter Trump’s hostility against Canada.

Melanie Jolie, Canada’s foreign minister, said Trump’s comments “demonstrate a complete lack of understanding of what makes Canada a strong country.” “We will never back down in the face of threats,” she said on the X programme.

Sheinbaum, the leftist leader who took office in October, has taken a somewhat more combative approach to Trump than other world leaders since he won the US election. She initially hinted at retaliatory tariffs against Washington, although the two have since spoken by phone and avoided making disparaging comments about each other in public.

Her government is preparing for mass deportations of Mexicans and possibly citizens of other countries across its northern border, as well as pushing for more US involvement in dealing with drug cartels, as well as a possible trade war.

Trump knows Canada and Mexico do not intend to give up their sovereignty, said Georganne Burke, a US-born Republican supporter and partner at Ottawa-based Pathway Group, a conservative lobbying firm.

“He was attacking Canadians, but I think the overreaction is not justified,” she added.