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Claudia Sheinbaum on Wednesday responded to US president-elect Donald Trump's proposal to rename the Gulf of Mexico, suggesting that the US territory that used to be part of Mexico should be called “Mexican America”.
The president of Mexico The comments came after Trump on Tuesday called the The curve of Mexico will be given another name The “Gulf of America” and Canada becoming a US state are comments that risk undermining one of the world's largest trade unions.
Trump's proposals came during a freewheeling press conference, where he refused to use force to get it Greenland or take control of the Panama Canal.
The president-elect, who takes office in less than two weeks, has threatened to impose tariffs of 25 percent on all goods from Mexico and Canada unless his neighbors do more to stop immigrants and drugs crossing its two borders – without trilateral trade. The bloc's free trade agreement, the USMCA.
In his Wednesday morning press conference, Sheinbaum noted that a small part of the US, including California and Texas, was part of the Spanish empire and later represented Mexico until it ceded the land to Washington in the 19th century.
“We'll call it 'Mexican America', sounds good doesn't it?” he told reporters, showing a colonial-era map of the region from 1607.
Leaders in Mexico and Canada are grappling with how best to respond to Trump's escalating rhetoric against their countries without alienating their domestic audiences.
Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, who flew to Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort for dinner in late November after the threat of tariffs was first raised, said there was “a snowball's chance in hell” of his country becoming part of the US. .
Earlier in the week, the Conservative premier of Ontario Doug Ford, made Trump a “counter-offer” to buy Alaska and Minnesota, two US states that share borders with Canada.
December, Ford was launched a multi-billion dollar marketing campaign promoting Ontario's economic and cultural ties to the US in an effort to counter Trump's anti-Canada sentiment.
Melanie Joly, Canada's foreign minister, said Trump's comments “show a complete lack of understanding of what makes Canada a strong country”. “We will never back down when faced with threats,” he told X.
Sheinbaum, a left-wing leader who took office in October, has taken a more anti-Trump approach than other world leaders since he won the US election. He initially hinted at retaliation against Washington, although the two spoke on the phone and refrained from making disparaging comments about each other in public.
His government is planning to deport more Mexicans and possibly foreigners across its northern border, as well as pressure for more US involvement in the fight against drug cartels, in addition to a possible trade war.
US-born Republican candidate Georgane Burke, a partner at the Ottawa-based Pathway Group, a conservative lobbyist firm, said Trump doesn't know whether Canada or Mexico have any intention of giving up their sovereignty.
“He has stepped on the Canadians but I think the overreaction was unwarranted,” he said.