Mexico counters Trump, suggests calling US 'Mexican America'

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo on Wednesday rebuked numerous comments that President-elect Donald Trump made about Mexico at a press conference a day prior. 

Trump on Tuesday called for the Gulf of Mexico to have its name changed to the "Gulf of America." He said the name change has a "beautiful ring." 

Sheinbaum on 'Mexican America' proposal: 'It sounds nice, doesn't it?'

In response, Sheinbaum on Wednesday sarcastically suggested the US be called "Mexican America."

"It sounds nice, doesn't it?" Sheinbaum said as she pointed at a 17th century world map of North America. Prior to the Mexican-American War from 1846 to 1848, the territories of what are now the US states of California, Texas and Arizona were a part of Mexico. 

"He talked about name, we are talking about the name," Sheinbaum said. She noted the Gulf of Mexico has had its name since 1607.

A new US-Mexico trade war?

Trump also said on Tuesday that Mexico was "run by cartels."

Trump, who takes office for a second term on January 20, has said he would implement tariffs on goods from Mexico due to immigration and the drug trade. 

Sheinbaum also shot back at this and said "in Mexico, the people are in charge."

"We are addressing the security problem," Sheinbaum said. She also said tariffs from the US would be met with similar measures from Mexico. 

She said tariffs are "not acceptable and would cause inflation and job losses for the United States and Mexico."  

At the same time, Sheinbaum said she expects to have a good relationship with Trump, saying the incoming US president "has his way of communicating."

Sheinbaum's predecessor, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, had a cordial relationship with Trump during his first term from 2017 to 2021. Sheinbaum, a climate scientist, belongs to Lopez Obrador's left-wing populist Morena party.     

wd/ab (Reuters, AP,  AFP)