President Donald Trump has floated another eye-catching name change, this time suggesting the Strait of Hormuz could bear his own name. His suggestion about renaming the Strait of Hormuz is only the newest entry in a growing catalog of places and institutions that Trump or his allies have renamed or proposed rebranding. In a September 2 Truth Social post, Trump proposed renaming the strategic waterway, which has been central to the conflict with Iran, to “Trump Strait,” before saying later in the Oval Office that the idea had merely been “thrown out there.” It follows a widening series of attempts to rename geographical features, public buildings and institutions during Trump’s second term.
Federal agencies, mapping companies and people living near the affected landmarks face different naming rules because a U.S. designation does not automatically bind states or other countries. What began with changes to the names of a gulf and a mountain has expanded to lakes, military bases, institutions, transport infrastructure, ships and currency. Naming disputes can seem symbolic, but official terminology flows into federal maps, contracts, databases and agency communications.
Trump’s orders have also tested the limits of presidential control when a landmark crosses an international boundary or is named by Congress. Trump’s expanding list mixes completed federal actions with speculative ideas and legally disputed rebrandings. Executive Order 14422 directs the Interior Department to update the Geographic Names Information System and requires federal agencies to use the new designation.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada would continue calling it Lake Ontario. Trump’s January 20, 2025, order applied the new federal name to the U.S. continental-shelf area bounded by Gulf Coast states and extending toward Mexico and Cuba. That same order restored the federal name Mount McKinley to North America’s highest peak while leaving Denali National Park and Preserve unchanged.
Trump allies on the Kennedy Center’s board added his name to the institution, which identifies itself as the Donald J. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. The move prompted a legal challenge over whether the board could alter the name of a memorial established by Congress.
The Trump administration placed the president’s name on the institute’s Washington headquarters and rebranded it as the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace while litigation over control of the congressionally created organization continued. The administration also renamed nine Army bases in 2025, including changing Fort Liberty to Fort Bragg and Fort Moore to Fort Benning.
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