Trump, a Geographical Caligula
The attempt now to rebaptize Lake Ontario or New Mexico is more than just a whim; it is a type of bullying and a reflection of presidential megalomania.
While in the White House, Donald Trump has demonstrated an extraordinary obsession with changing the name of all kinds of different things, from geographical features to cultural centers in Washington and airports in Florida. And very often, it is to give them his own name. He has now reached new heights, hinting that the state of New Mexico will be called New America.
He dropped this bombshell on social media. And the following day, with the country mired in an endless war with Iran, and with a skyrocketing cost of living, he had nothing better to do than to continue posting messages with the map of the U.S. altered to show his latest whim. If this hadn’t come from the leader of the most powerful country in the world, it would appear ridiculous, like a modern version of the Emperor Caligula appointing his horse as consul. And if it weren’t for all the implications of such arbitrary decisions and inappropriate outbursts.
Renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America,” which he announced at the start of his second term, heralded the renewed imperialism that he would later dub the Donroe Doctrine, and was understood as contempt for the identity of the Americas as a continent. The decision to remove the indigenous name, Denali, from the highest mountain in the U.S. and replace it with President William McKinley’s name, trampled on Alaska’s native heritage. The most recent change from Lake Ontario to Lake America sought to provoke neighboring Canada amid a trade war. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney managed to unite his fellow Canadians in a forceful response to Trump’s continuous goading. The case of Lake Ontario, like that of the Gulf of Mexico has, moreover, shown how quickly Apple and Google bow to the president’s wishes by changing their maps. And at the same time, it rescued veteran cartography app, MapQuest, from oblivion as its refusal to comply moved it to the top of the most downloaded map apps.
Beneath Trump’s desire to rename lies the obsession of a megalomaniac worried about shoring up his legacy. This is someone who does not trust that those who come after him will regard his achievements as highly as he does. Some of the name changes may not survive his departure from the White House. Others, like New Mexico, are not even within his power to implement. But they serve other purposes: to keep up the confusion that defines his presidency and distract the public from focusing on fundamental issues — the failure of his policies and the degradation of U.S. democracy.
While in the White House, Donald Trump has demonstrated an extraordinary obsession with changing the name of all kinds of different things, from geographical features to cultural centers in Washington and airports in Florida. And very often, it is to give them his own name. He has now reached new heights, hinting that the state of New Mexico will be called New America.
He dropped this bombshell on social media. And the following day, with the country mired in an endless war with Iran, and with a skyrocketing cost of living, he had nothing better to do than to continue posting messages with the map of the U.S. altered to show his latest whim. If this hadn’t come from the leader of the most powerful country in the world, it would appear ridiculous, like a modern version of the Emperor Caligula appointing his horse as consul. And if it weren’t for all the implications of such arbitrary decisions and inappropriate outbursts.
Renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America,” which he announced at the start of his second term, heralded the renewed imperialism that he would later dub the Donroe Doctrine, and was understood as contempt for the identity of the Americas as a continent. The decision to remove the indigenous name, Denali, from the highest mountain in the U.S. and replace it with President William McKinley’s name, trampled on Alaska’s native heritage. The most recent change from Lake Ontario to Lake America sought to provoke neighboring Canada amid a trade war. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney managed to unite his fellow Canadians in a forceful response to Trump’s continuous goading. The case of Lake Ontario, like that of the Gulf of Mexico has, moreover, shown how quickly Apple and Google bow to the president’s wishes by changing their maps. And at the same time, it rescued veteran cartography app, MapQuest, from oblivion as its refusal to comply moved it to the top of the most downloaded map apps.
Beneath Trump’s desire to rename lies the obsession of a megalomaniac worried about shoring up his legacy. This is someone who does not trust that those who come after him will regard his achievements as highly as he does. Some of the name changes may not survive his departure from the White House. Others, like New Mexico, are not even within his power to implement. But they serve other purposes: to keep up the confusion that defines his presidency and distract the public from focusing on fundamental issues — the failure of his policies and the degradation of U.S. democracy.
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