Yesterday, Earl “Buddy” Carter’s (R-Ga) introduced a two-page bill titled “Red, White, and Blueland Act of 2025.’
When someone shared it with me, I thought it was a meme—but it is indeed real.
The purpose of the bill? To enable President Trump’s efforts to purchase Greenland and rename it “Red, White and Blueland,” furthering his desire to continue building America’s brand in new areas.
The bill would require the U.S. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) to update the name of Greenland for users who access official maps and documents in the United States of America.
With the melting sea ice opening up new travel routes through the Arctic, there has been concern that Russia and China could take advantage of this opportunity and boost their presence across the North Atlantic.
What does Denmark say, as Greenland is one of its territories?
Greenland’s current leader, Múte B. Egede, has stated his people don’t care for this idea and don’t want to be Americans. As a response, a “Denmarkification” petition has been launched and collected over 200,000 signatures, calling for Denmark to buy the state of California.
The proposed cost? $1 trillion.
We’ve Been Here Before (Sort Of)
In 1910, President William Howard Taft’s administration explored the possibility of buying Greenland because it was perceived to be vital to national security, as a strategic location between the U.S. and Europe. There was also growing interest in Arctic resources, such as minerals. The two sides got as far as discussing proposals to purchase the island or to swap it for U.S. territory in the Philippines, but with World War I on the horizon, attention turned to more pressing matters.
The Name Change Would Be Similar to Gulf of America
In the U.S., the GNIS has officially updated the name “Gulf of Mexico” to “Gulf of America.” In alignment with Google’s longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in government sources, the tech giant began rolling out changes to reflect this update across their platforms.
People who use Google Maps when located in the United States will see “Gulf of America” on their devices, both visually and through search. At the same time, people located in the country of Mexico will see the name “Gulf of Mexico” used to describe the same body of water. And for those who use Google Maps in a country or territory beyond the U.S. and Mexico, they will see both names at the same time, with Gulf of America in parentheses.
Power & Power in Language
So far in 2025, President Donald J. Trump has signed 60 executive orders, from EO 14147 through EO 14206. As the executive orders (EOs) continue to be drafted, signed and put into action, one thing is clear: The power in these EOs are vested in the president through the power of the electorate. Having won the popular vote, the Electoral College vote, the House and the Senate, the administration is acting upon their beliefs of what would be best for America, both today and into the future.
With EOs ranging from foreign policy, immigration, national security, energy/climate, DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion), trans rights, declaring holidays, faith and abortion, the issues are being decided with the stroke of a pen.
While there has been some pushback from the courts, it’s fair to believe more actions will continue to evolve the language used across our institutions (Fort Liberty to Fort Bragg), our policies (DEI to a to-be-determined term) and our geography (Mount Denali to Mount McKinley).
In the meantime, our maps can be quickly updated to reflect these changes with the touch of a button, appearing in our lives and on our phones almost instantly.
So, if you happen to fly into one of Greenland’s six international airports, know it’s possible that one day the airport code on your ticket from America may change from GOH to RWB, for Red White and Blueland.