Donald Trump sent world leaders scrambling with his plans to severe customs duties on imports and recent claims that the United States should take control of various countries, territories and monuments – but the Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaumdoesn’t seem to be taking the bait.
Sheinbaum lashed out at the president-elect during his daily press briefing broadcast Wednesday morning, delivering a sarcastic history lesson aimed at Trump after he proposed the Gulf of Mexico be renamed Gulf of America.
In front of a world map, and alongside former Culture Minister José Alfonso Suarez del Real, Sheinbaum dryly proposed that North America be renamed “América Mexicana” or “Mexican America”, because a founding document dates back of 1814 and preceding the Mexican constitution referred to this is how.
“Sounds good, right?” she added sarcastically. She also noted that the Gulf of Mexico has had that name since 1607.
“The fact is that Mexican America has been recognized since the 17th century… as the name of the entire northern part of the (American) continent,” Suarez del Real added, pointing to the area on the map.
Get the latest national news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up to receive breaking news alerts sent directly to you as they happen.
The exchange began to answer a larger lingering question about relations between the two countries: how the newly elected Sheinbaum will handle Trump’s tough diplomatic approach, and promises of mass deportations and crippling taxes on trading partners like Mexico.
“Humor can be a good tactic, it projects strength, which Trump responds to. It was probably the right choice on this issue,” Brian Winter, vice president of the New York-based Council of the Americas, told the Associated Press of Sheinbaum’s choice of rebuttal. “Even though President Sheinbaum knows it won’t work on everything, Trump and his administration will demand serious engagement from Mexico on the big issues of immigration, drugs and trade.”
It comes after other severe ones but collaborative responses by Sheinbaum regarding Trump’s proposals.
Regarding Trump’s proposal to impose 25% tariffs on Mexican imports, Sheinbaum warned that if the new US administration imposed tariffs on Mexico, his administration would respond with similar measures. She said any form of tax was “unacceptable and would lead to inflation and job losses in the United States and Mexico.”
She took a more concessional tone on immigration, continuing years of Mexican efforts to prevent migrants from traveling north in the face of growing pressure from the United States.
After initially saying her government would push the Trump administration to expel migrants directly to their own countries, she said in January that Mexico would be open to accepting expulsions from other countries, but that Mexico could limit it to certain nationalities or request compensation.
Trump floated the idea of renaming the Gulf of Mexico, which stretches from Florida to Cancun in Mexico, in a statement. Press conference Tuesday in which he presented a vast expansionist program including the possibility of taking control of the Panama Canal and Greenland.
He also said he could use economic levers to push Canada to become part of the United States, while once again raising trade deficit issues and asserting that the United States does not need to buy Canadian lumber, dairy products or automobiles.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded to Trump’s comments Tuesday saying, “There is no way Canada will be part of the United States.”
“Our two countries’ workers and communities benefit from being each other’s largest trading and security partners,” Trudeau added in a social media post.
— With files from Reuters and the Associated Press
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.