Published: January 26, 2025 4:46 pm
Author: RT
The SpaceX CEO’s suggested rebrand came after Donald Trump made two major map changes
Tech billionaire Elon Musk has suggested that the US change the name of the English Channel to “the George Washington Channel” in honor of the first American president, after US President Donald Trump renamed of the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
In a post on his X platform on Saturday, Musk proposed a “new name for the water that separates England and France,” sharing a satellite photo of the channel with “The George Washington Channel” imposed over the strait.
Musk’s post was likely tongue-in-cheek, but it came less than a week after Trump – a close political ally of Musk – ordered the Gulf of Mexico to be renamed the Gulf of America, and the Alaskan peak Denali to be returned to its pre-2015 name of Mount McKinley. The US Interior Department confirmed the changes on Friday.
New name for the water that separates England and France pic.twitter.com/R6Lipj1Dra
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 26, 2025
Trump has also repeatedly declared his intent to acquire the Danish autonomous territory of Greenland, a move that would significantly expand the US’ Arctic coastline. “I think we’re going to have it,” he told reporters on Saturday, after a contentious phone call with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen earlier this week.
In addition, Trump has suggested on numerous occasions in recent months that Canada “should be a state” of the US.
The English Channel was referred to by the Romans as ‘Mare Britannicum’, or the ‘Sea of the Britons’. It has been commonly called the English Channel since the Middle Ages, although it is referred to in France as ‘La Manche’, or ‘The Sleeve’, owing to its shape.
