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The Cleveland City Council has voted to rename a portion of Lake Erie as the "Gulf of Cleveland," using satire to poke fun at recent efforts by President Donald Trump to rename prominent bodies of water in the United States. The resolution, passed on Monday night by a vote of 13-1, does not carry the force of law but directs all city-generated maps and documents to use the new name for the easternmost and westernmost points of Cleveland's shoreline and two miles out into Lake Erie.
The measure was introduced by council member Kris Harsh as a tongue-in-cheek response to the president's recent orders to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America" and Lake Ontario as "Lake America." In his remarks to the council, Harsh joked, "I can hear them now, saying 'Kris, it’s not even a gulf. It’s a lake,' to which I say, 'Who cares?'" Harsh also satirically called on Apple and Google to update their maps to reflect Cleveland's "sovereignty" over the newly named gulf.
Council officials stated in a press release that the move comes as a reaction to what they described as a "gold rush of renamings and rebrandings" sparked by federal actions.Harsh acknowledged criticism was expected, but emphasized that the resolution is meant to highlight the perceived absurdity of recent renaming efforts at the national level.
The council's decision follows a series of high-profile renaming proposals by President Trump, including the suggestion to rename New Mexico as "New America" and his executive order renaming Lake Ontario amid trade tensions with Canada. The president does not have the authority to change geographical names recognized by international bodies or state governments, but can direct federal agencies to use updated names in official documents.
The Cleveland City Council's satirical resolution also references other parody responses to the president’s moves, including the creators of the TV show 'South Park' announcing a name change to 'South America' in an upcoming season. While the "Gulf of Cleveland" renaming is not enforceable, council members say it is meant to draw attention to the broader national conversation about the role of branding and political statements in government policy.