JUNEAU, Alaska — On Monday, the newly inaugurated President Donald Trump declared his intent to revert the name of North America’s tallest mountain from Denali back to Mount McKinley, a proposal he had previously suggested but faced significant opposition from leaders in Alaska.
Trump stated his belief that the name change would honor former President William McKinley, whom he credited with enriching the nation through tariffs and leadership. Alongside this announcement, Trump expressed plans to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
Attempts to reach Alaska’s Republican congressional delegation and Governor Mike Dunleavy went unanswered. In 2017, Alaska’s U.S. senators strongly objected to a similar proposal from Trump regarding the name change from Denali to Mount McKinley.
In 2015, former President Barack Obama officially renamed the peak Denali to reflect the cultural significance to Alaska Natives and the wishes of many local residents. In recent years, there has been a trend within the federal government to alter geographic names deemed offensive to Indigenous communities.
The term Denali derives from the Athabascan language, meaning “the high one” or “the great one.” This well-known mountain, reaching an elevation of 20,310 feet (6,190 meters), is located within Denali National Park and Preserve, featuring stunning snow caps and glaciers.
The name “Mount McKinley” was attributed to the mountain by a prospector in 1896, honoring President William McKinley, who had never visited Alaska. The name remained officially recognized until Obama’s decision to change it, despite objections from lawmakers in Ohio, McKinley’s home state.
Trump reiterated his thoughts on the name change at a rally following the last election, remarking on McKinley’s positive legacy. “McKinley was a very good, maybe a great president. They took his name off Mount McKinley, right? That’s what they do to people,” Trump remarked in December.
Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski was among those opposed to changing the name back to Mount McKinley, stating, “You can’t improve upon the name that Alaska’s Koyukon Athabascans bestowed on North America’s tallest peak, Denali – the Great One.” She emphasized that the discussion surrounding the name should not be reignited.
The Tanana Chiefs Conference, representing several Athabascan tribes in Interior Alaska, has worked diligently for years to ensure the peak is recognized as Denali.
William McKinley, a Republican from Ohio, served as the 25th president of the United States and was tragically assassinated early in his second term in 1901. The dispute between Alaska and Ohio over the mountain’s name has been ongoing since at least the 1970s, with Alaska formally requesting the name change since 1975, when it passed a resolution and then-Gov. Jay Hammond approached the federal authorities.
