Mexico President Chides Trump: Mexican America ‘Sounds Nice’

Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum shows a 1661 world map showing the Americas and the Gulf of Mexico in response to US President-elect Donald Trump's comments about renaming the body of water, during a press conference at National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico, in this photo distributed on January 8, 2025. (Presidencia de Mexico/Handout via Reuters)
Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum shows a 1661 world map showing the Americas and the Gulf of Mexico in response to US President-elect Donald Trump's comments about renaming the body of water, during a press conference at National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico, in this photo distributed on January 8, 2025. (Presidencia de Mexico/Handout via Reuters)
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Mexico President Chides Trump: Mexican America ‘Sounds Nice’

Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum shows a 1661 world map showing the Americas and the Gulf of Mexico in response to US President-elect Donald Trump's comments about renaming the body of water, during a press conference at National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico, in this photo distributed on January 8, 2025. (Presidencia de Mexico/Handout via Reuters)
Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum shows a 1661 world map showing the Americas and the Gulf of Mexico in response to US President-elect Donald Trump's comments about renaming the body of water, during a press conference at National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico, in this photo distributed on January 8, 2025. (Presidencia de Mexico/Handout via Reuters)

Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum on Wednesday suggested North America including the United States could be renamed "Mexican America" - an historic name used on an early map of the region - in response to US President-elect Donald Trump's pledge to rename the Gulf of Mexico the "Gulf of America."

"Mexican America, that sounds nice," Sheinbaum joked, pointing at the map from 1607 showing an early portrayal of North America.

The president, who has jousted with Trump in recent weeks, used her daily press conference to give a history lesson, flanked by old maps and former culture minister Jose Alfonso Suarez del Real.

"The fact is that Mexican America is recognized since the 17th century... as the name for the whole northern part of the (American) continent," Suarez del Real said, demonstrating the area on the map.

On the Gulf of Mexico, Suarez del Real said the name was internationally recognized and used as a maritime navigational reference going back hundreds of years.

Trump floated the renaming of the body of water which stretches from Florida to Mexico's Cancun in a Tuesday press conference in which he presented a broad expansionist agenda including the possibility of taking control of the Panama Canal and Greenland.

Sheinbaum also said it was not true that Mexico was "run by the cartels" as Trump said. "In Mexico, the people are in charge," she said, adding "we are addressing the security problem."

Despite the back and forth, Sheinbaum reiterated that she expected the two countries to have a positive relationship.

"I think there will be a good relationship," she said. "President Trump has his way of communicating."



China Hopes Aging Dalai Lama Can 'Return to Right Path'

People stroll in Guozijian Hutong alley in Beijing on February 9, 2025. (Photo by Pedro PARDO / AFP)
People stroll in Guozijian Hutong alley in Beijing on February 9, 2025. (Photo by Pedro PARDO / AFP)
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China Hopes Aging Dalai Lama Can 'Return to Right Path'

People stroll in Guozijian Hutong alley in Beijing on February 9, 2025. (Photo by Pedro PARDO / AFP)
People stroll in Guozijian Hutong alley in Beijing on February 9, 2025. (Photo by Pedro PARDO / AFP)

China hopes the Dalai Lama can "return to the right path" and is open to discussions about the Nobel Peace laureate's future as long as certain conditions are met, the foreign ministry said on Monday.

The exiled leader of Tibetan Buddhism, who turns 90 this year, fled Tibet in 1959 for India after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, but has expressed a desire to return to Tibet before he dies.

China is open to talks about the future of the Dalai Lama as long as he abandons his position of splitting the "motherland," a foreign ministry spokesperson, Guo Jiakun, told a regular press conference, according to Reuters.

Guo was responding to a request for comment on the death of the spiritual leader's elder brother Gyalo Thondup, who had previously acted as his unofficial envoy in talks with Chinese officials.
Gyalo Thondup died on Sunday, aged 97, in his home in the Indian town of Kalimpong.
The Dalai Lama needs to openly recognize that Tibet and Taiwan are inalienable parts of China, whose sole legal government is that of the People's Republic of China, Guo said, using the country's official name.
The Dalai Lama stepped down in 2011 as the political leader of the Tibetan government-in-exile, which Beijing does not recognize. Official talks with his representatives have stalled since.
As the Dalai Lama ages, the question of his successor has also become increasingly urgent. China insists it will choose his successor as Tibet's spiritual leader.
But the Dalai Lama says he will clarify questions about the succession, such as if and where he will be reincarnated, in line with Tibetan Buddhist belief, around the time of his 90th birthday in July.
A new book by the Dalai Lama, due out in March to coincide with the anniversary of the uprising, is expected to outline a framework for the future of Tibet "even after I am gone", he has said.