It seems not, because Congress delegated this function to a Board of Geographic Names within the Interior Department (see statute here).
An executive order can’t override a statute, therefore Trump’s order renaming the Gulf of Mexico and an Alaskan mountain appears to be invalid.
He can, however, indirectly influence geographic names because the law gives final decision authority to the Secretary of Interior, a cabinet official appointed by the president. An interior secretary loyal to Trump might well honor his wishes.
Renaming geographic features is a big deal, because it renders millions of maps obsolete, and reprinting maps, books, and documents costs money. The symbolic impact also is important (see, e.g., conflicts over naming military bases for Confederate figures).
Thus, reverting Alaska’s highest mountain, Denali, to its white man’s name, Mt. McKinley, could be seen as (and knowing Trump, probably is) a putdown of Native Americans.
The Associated Press says it will stick with “Gulf of Mexico” but scrap Denali for “Mt. McKinley” because “Trump’s order only carries authority within the United States” (see story here).
In this, the AP is wrong; the statute says the Board of Geographic Names “shall provide for uniformity in geographic nomenclature and orthography throughout the Federal Government.” It has no authority over the private sector (or states, for that matter).
If the AP wants to kowtow to Trump, it can do so; but I won’t. On this blog, North America’s highest peak (photo below) is still Denali. Sue me.
