At dawn on Monday, Feb. 10, acting U.S. Geological Survey Director Sarah Ryker awoke to an urgent request from one of her new superiors.
“Please provide an update by COB with a list of Federal and private sector maps that have been changed to the Gulf of America,” emailed Charlie Dankert, the Department of the Interior’s de facto assistant secretary for policy, management and budget.
Hours before, President Donald Trump had proclaimed Feb. 9 the “first ever Gulf of America Day,” although many American maps — online and otherwise — still called the body of water by its traditional moniker, the Gulf of Mexico.