Trump plans to rename the Persian Gulf for this reason

President Donald Trump will refer to the Persian Gulf as the Arabian Gulf or the Gulf of Arabia in an upcoming announcement about his trip to the Middle East next week, two officials claim.

Trump is set to visit the region, in particular, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, where he will try to secure Saudi investment in the U.S, curb Iran’s nuclear program, and discuss resolutions for the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

The renaming move would be a snub to Iran, a country which has maintained its historic ties to the body of water off the southern coast of the country, with it historically being known as the Persian Gulf since the 16th century.

Back in 2012, Iran sued Google Maps over not labelling the Persian Gulf.

Arab nations have called for this name change, similar to what Trump will reportedly refer to it as.

In the past, Trump got involved in this dispute during his first term when he referred to the area as the Gulf of Arabia, which caused Iran’s then-president Hassan Rouhani to suggest that Trump needed to "study geography".

"Everyone knew Trump's friendship was for sale to the highest bidder. We now know that his geography is, too," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote online at the time.

Trump is set to visit the Middle East next weekPhoto by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Americans may change how they refer to the area due to Trump, however, this doesn't impact how the rest of the world will refer to the waterway, as it is the International Hydrographic Organisation which usually makes these decisions.

Trump himself has made a number of renaming decisions since returning to the White House earlier this year.

He decided to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America” as an executive order, and so this means the body of water is now labelled as the Gulf of America for US users on Google Maps, while it remains as the Gulf of Mexico for Mexican users. For the rest of the world, the area reads: "Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)."

The decision was criticised by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who said back in January: “Obviously, the Gulf of Mexico is a name recognized by the United Nations."

“Why don’t we call it Mexican America?” she added sarcastically in Spanish. “It sounds nice, no?”

The White House barred Associated Press journalists for the organisation’s decision not to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America within the US, which led AP to sue the Trump administration. Last month, US District Judge Trevor N McFadden ruled that the AP should be reinstated as the First Amendment protects the news outlet.

Trump also changed the name of Mount Denali in Alaska back to its old name, Mount McKinley, opting to swap the native name to honour President William McKinley, who never visited Alaska.

Elsewhere, Reaction as the Gulf of Mexico appears as 'Gulf of America' on US Google Maps, Trump calls India and Pakistan conflict 'tit for tat'.

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