President Donald Trump's quest to rewrite classroom geographical maps continued Tuesday, as news broke that he's planning to announce that the United States will now refer to the Persian Gulf as the "Arabian Gulf." He will visit Saudi Arabia next week.
After making headlines by renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America" early on in his second term, Trump now sets his sights on rechristening bodies of water on the globe's Eastern Hemisphere.
As reported by ABC News:
The Persian Gulf has been widely known by that name since the 16th century, although usage of 'Gulf of Arabia' and 'Arabian Gulf' is dominant in many countries in the Middle East. The government of Iran — formerly Persia — threatened to sue Google in 2012 over the company's decision not to label the body of water at all on its maps.
On Google Maps in the U.S., the body of water appears as Persian Gulf (Arabian Gulf). Apple Maps only says the Persian Gulf.
To answer the question of "Who cares?" — clearly, the Iranians do. Because, as everyone knows, if there's something worth getting really upset about, it's another country calling a body of water something you don't want them to call it.
In other news, in the futures market smart money is on Trump renaming the San Francisco Bay the "Fruit Bowl."
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