President Donald Trump claimed he “seriously” considered renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of Trump.” The president gave a nearly 75-minute, rambling speech Friday evening at a dinner for the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach, Florida. His remarks were originally set to begin at 6:15 p.m. Eastern time — but he didn’t start speaking until about 7:50 p.m.
More than 100 protesters gathered near the venue and jeered at Trump’s motorcade as he arrived, according to the Palm Beach Post. Trump said he initially wanted to rename the Gulf of Mexico after himself, but was talked out of it.
“I was thinking about seriously calling it the Gulf of Trump,” he said as the audience laughed and applauded. “I really was, but I was told by some very wise people, ‘Please don’t do that.’ That is what I don’t think would’ve worked.”
His remarks come just days after he shared a Truth Social post referring to the Strait of Hormuz as the “Strait of Trump.” Trump went on to describe his recollection of a phone call with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum about renaming the gulf.
“The president of Mexico called me. She’s not too fond of me anymore, but when she heard about it, she was hurt. It was put in some paper … It was leaked that I was going to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America,” Trump said. “And she's a beautiful woman … I never like to talk about beauty, because it's usually the end of a political career. If you say somebody's a beautiful woman, they say, ‘What a terrible, terrible thing.’ Everybody hates it except the woman that you're talking about, they love it,” he continued.
The president then claimed people are “loving” his $400 million White House ballroom project, adding, “It's going to be the best in the world, although I like the one at Mar-a-Lago very much too.” But just one in three Americans support Trump’s move to tear down the East Wing of the White House to make way for his lavish new ballroom, according to a new poll.
Trump also discussed the war with Iran — just hours after he told Congress the hostilities were “terminated.” “You cannot give Iran a nuclear weapon. Because they would use it on a place called Israel very quickly, and they would use it in the Middle East, and they would use it in Europe, and I guess we'd be next. And it's not going to happen, don’t worry about it,” he said.
The president then boasted about how the U.S. has the “best desalinization” and the “best submarines” in the world. “We have the best desalinization, we have the best submarines in the world. We can go for years underwater, all nuclear submarines,” the president said.
Trump also praised Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, a Democrat who was re-elected for a sixth term in 2024. “He's a great sheriff, and he's a popular guy, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw. So, I shouldn't tell you this. I told this to Ric, and you know, I know how tough he is, and also I figured this might happen, but I voted for Ric. He's a Democrat,” Trump said as the audience laughed. “This could be the end of my presidential career,” he added.
