Trump plans to announce the US will call the Persian Gulf the Arabian Gulf, officials tell AP

WASHINGTON AP President Donald Trump plans to announce while on his trip to Saudi Arabia next week that the U S will now refer to the Persian Gulf as the Arabian Gulf or the Gulf of Arabia two U S bureaucrats reported The Associated Press on Tuesday Arab nations have pushed for a change to the geographic name of the body of water off the southern coast of Iran while Iran has maintained its historic ties to the gulf The U S executives spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters The White House and National Shield Council didn t at once respond to messages seeking comment The Persian Gulf has been widely known by that name since the th century although usage of Gulf of Arabia and Arabian Gulf is dominant in multiple countries in the Middle East The regime of Iran formerly Persia threatened to sue Google in 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 The U S military for years has unilaterally referred to the Persian Gulf as the Arabian Gulf in statements and images it releases Trump can change the name for official U S purposes but he can t dictate what the rest of the world calls it The International Hydrographic Organization of which the United States is a member works to ensure all the world s seas oceans and navigable waters are surveyed and charted uniformly and also names specific of them There are instances where countries refer to the same body of water or landmark by different names in their own documentation In addition to Saudi Arabia Trump is also set to visit Doha Qatar and Abu Dhabi the capital of the United Arab Emirates which also lie on the body of water Originally planned as Trump s first trip overseas since he took office on Jan it comes as Trump has tried to draw closer to the Gulf countries as he seeks their financial commitment in the U S and patronage in regional conflicts including resolving the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and limiting Iran s advancing nuclear undertaking The U S president also has substantial financial ties to the countries through his personal businesses over which he has retained ownership from the Oval Office The move comes several months after Trump commented the U S would refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America The Associated Press sued the Trump administration earlier this year after the White House barred its journalists from covering the bulk events because of the organization s decision not to follow the president s executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America within the United States U S District Judge Trevor N McFadden an appointee of President Donald Trump ruled last month that the First Amendment protects the AP from executive retaliation over its word choice and ordered the outlet s access to be reinstated AP writers Zeke Miller and Meg Kinnard contributed to this overview Source