Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness

The order directs the Secretary of the Interior to reinstate the name "Mount McKinley" for North America's highest peak in Alaska within 30 days and to rename the U.S. continental shelf area formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America" within 30 days. The Secretary must update the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) to reflect both changes and remove all references to the Gulf of Mexico. The Board on Geographic Names is directed to ensure all federal references — agency maps, contracts, and other documents — reflect the new name. The surrounding national park retains the name Denali National Park and Preserve.

The order also directs every agency head with appointment authority to review their Board on Geographic Names appointees within seven days and consider replacing them. The Secretary of the Interior is directed to work with Alaska Native entities to adopt landmark names honoring Alaskan history and culture, and may solicit public and intergovernmental input to recommend additional naming honors to the President, particularly in connection with America's 250th anniversary celebration.

The Secretary of the Interior and agency heads with Board on Geographic Names appointment authority are directly directed to act. Federal agencies at large must update maps, contracts, and documents to use the new names. Alaska Native entities and state and local organizations in Alaska are invited into a consultative process on additional landmark naming.

Every federal agency — and, through federal guidance, contractors and others using federal documents — must stop referring to the Gulf of Mexico in official materials and use "Gulf of America." The name "Denali," used on federal maps and documents since 2015, reverts to "Mount McKinley" across all federal records within 30 days.

The Secretary of the Interior uses existing authority under 43 U.S.C. 364–364f, which governs the Board on Geographic Names, to execute both renamings within 30 days. The GNIS — the federal database of official U.S. place names — is the operational lever: once updated, it triggers consistency requirements across all agencies. For any renaming that requires an act of Congress to be enshrined in public law, the Board is directed to issue interim guidance so federal documents already use the Board-approved name while Congress acts.