I was always impressed with the many titles of Haile Selassie, who was the Emperor of Ethiopia for 45 years starting in 1930. I mean, he ruled! After all, who could withstand the power of a guy known as “Keeper of the Door,” and “King of Kings” and, especially, “Lion of the Tribe of Judah, His Imperial Majesty.” That’s a seriously fine job title.
By comparison, America’s leader is by nomenclature nearly a nobody. We call him “Mr. President.” That was George Washington’s choice, actually, in order to keep things rather humble. His Vice President, John Adams, had suggested, “His Elective Majesty” or “His Mightiness.” But Washington was acutely aware that the name he answered to would set the tone for his office, and for American democracy more generally. And so he deported himself with humility and dignity. As he was taking office as the nation’s first elected leader, Washington wrote, “My political conduct… must be exceedingly circumspect, and proof against just criticism.”
You probably think that I’m going to say something uncharitable here about the current President of the United States. No, I am not going to bestow any new titles upon him – not just yet, anyway; we know exactly what he is. We’re talking here about language. And it’s in that context that I want to say just a few words about the president – and his decision to pick a fight with the Associated Press, a global news agency. Trump launched this fight because the AP, in its news stories and its stylebook, has continued to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as – well, as the Gulf of Mexico. Donald Trump, of course, has issued an executive order that the body of water that stretches from Florida through Texas and down to Mexico shall heretofore be referred to as the Gulf of America.
Now, what pieces of the world’s geography are called and why is kind of haphazard, but tradition has a lot to do with it. Some 400 years ago, Spanish explorers started referring to the Gulf of Mexico as that because they had to cross it to get to the major city down that way, which was known as Mexico. That tradition doesn’t necessarily settle it: There’s an outfit called the International Hydrographic Organization that oversees mapping and charting of all the world’s waterways, and it names some of them – but it can’t tell people what to actually call something. So, for example, Americans call the river between Mexico and the U.S. the Rio Grande, while Mexicans call it Rio Bravo, which means “angry river” or “fierce river.”
The AP has gone along with Trump’s order to change the name of North America’s largest mountain – it’s no longer Denali, it’s Mount McKinley again. Trump can do that, because the mountain is in America, and he is, let us remember, our president. But the Gulf of Mexico is not America’s waterway, so Trump is kind of reaching beyond his authority here.
Maybe it’s because Mexico is one of the many nations that Trump is mad at – along with Canada, Denmark, Ukraine, most of South America and the entirety of Europe. In fact, the only country Trump seems to like these days is the one ruled by his pal Vladimir Putin. I mean, he didn’t order the renaming of the cocktail made of vodka, Kahlua and cream – it’s not the “White American” now, is it? – and he hasn’t demanded that the lethal game of chance involving a revolver be called “American roulette.” Think about it.
But Mr. President is upset about this one. He has barred reporters from The Associated Press from the Oval Office and from the White House press plane and Mar a Lago. That is, he is blacklisting journalists because they are using words he doesn’t like. This is just like a childish tantrum, except that it involves a very important principle: namely, Americans’ freedom from government dictates.
The Associated Press is taking a principled position that independent news outlets can’t let a president – or anybody else – dictate what words it can use. Trump, by contrast, is trying to be Commissar of the Word Police. And if the AP gives in on this, who’s to say what words Donald Trump will next decide he won’t allow journalists to use? He hates DEI – so maybe he won’t allow coverage by reporters who refer to “diversity.” Or to “equity,” except in reference to the stock market, of course. Or “inclusion,” as in, “The most preposterous idea I’ve ever heard is the argument for the inclusion of Donald Trump on Mount Rushmore.” Oops.
This isn’t going to end well, not by my calculation. Trump has gotten himself so riled up that he won’t be able to back down, and so the AP is going to have to bring a lawsuit that will point out that in penalizing American citizens for using certain words, the president is violating the First Amendment, which protects the free speech of all of us. But, of course, if the courts rule against Trump, who’s to say that he will abide by the ruling?
Maybe, in his view, we haven’t fully recognized who a president is. No, he is not an emperor, not the “Lion of Judah.” But the Mahatma of Mar a Lago, the Magnate of MAGAdom is, in fact, the greatest threat to Americans’ freedom in our history.
I have faith that one day soon, a majority of Americans will wake up to the destruction that this man is wreaking upon our great nation. He will never be self-aware enough to consider conducting himself gracefully and thoughtfully – this man is no George Washington. But we will restore the goodness of America, and we will do it by exercising our rights under the fine job title that is ours, and that we all hold dear: citizens of the United States.
Rex Smith, the co-host of The Media Project on WAMC, is the former editor of the Times Union of Albany and The Record in Troy. His weekly digital report, The Upstate American, is published by Substack.
The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.