“Mexico’s President Playfully Renames the U.S. as ‘Mexican America’ in Lighthearted Trump Jab”

The president of Mexico dismissed multiple assertions made by President-elect Donald J. Trump regarding her nation and even humorously suggested that the United States ought to be referred to as “Mexican America” after Mr. Trump proposed renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.

President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico utilized her Wednesday morning press briefing to display a historical world map from 1607. This map referred to North America as Mexican America and had already labeled the Gulf of Mexico as such, 169 years prior to the establishment of the United States.

“Why don’t we just refer to it as Mexican America? It sounds quite lovely, doesn’t it?” Ms. Sheinbaum remarked while indicating the map and smiling.

In reply to Mr. Trump’s assertion that Mexico was “functionally governed by the cartels,” Ms. Sheinbaum informed journalists on Wednesday that, “with all due respect,” the president-elect was misinformed.

“In Mexico, the citizens are in charge,” she stated. “And we will engage and find mutual understanding with the administration of President Trump; I am confident of this, while safeguarding our sovereignty as a free, independent, and sovereign nation.”

Ms. Sheinbaum further expressed that Mexico is prepared to continue working with the United States on a variety of issues, such as immigration control, safety, and drug trafficking. “However, we are also very focused on halting the influx of U.S. firearms into Mexico,” she mentioned, adding that approximately 75 percent of confiscated firearms in Mexican territory are smuggled illegally from the United States.

In 2021, Mexico filed a lawsuit against seven U.S. gun manufacturers and a distributor, accusing these companies of being complicit in enabling the flow of weapons to drug cartels. A lower court had thrown out the case. However, last year a federal appeals court ruled that the $10 billion lawsuit could move forward. In October, the Supreme Court agreed to take on the case; it will hear arguments in March.

Unlike the United States, Mexico enforces strict gun regulations, with only one gun shop issuing fewer than 50 permits annually. Nevertheless, gun violence continues to devastate the country.