Once again, Trump is in office and he’s already begun with his insane decisions that leave many of us sane people confused. One such change is the attempt to buy and claim Greenland as an American territory. Yes, you read that right.

Another claim he’s made, and this is one his cabinet of sycophants has been defending fiercely despite its ridiculousness, is that the Gulf of Mexico should be named the “Gulf of America”. An interesting claim, despite the fact that the US doesn’t even solely own the body of water.

This is a ridiculous notion, and surely Trump’s claims will go ignored right? Unfortunately, Google and Apple say otherwise, and have completely caved in to his mad ramblings. If you don’t believe me, just search on Google. Yes, the irony of that statement isn’t lost on me. 

Jokes aside, this is a serious issue that has set a precedent. If Google and Apple are willing to bend the knee on something like this, then they’ll do it again later. This should come as no surprise as they’re still soulless corporations that exploit their employees like every company does, but they could’ve at least played hard to get, right?

Expect more like this to come though. More and more companies are going to abandon their shallow attempts to appear friendly toward people of color and the LGBTQIA+ community. After all, it’s hard to pretend to care when you outright support a president that claims most if not all immigrants are criminals and deviants.

What makes this more egregious is how this whole situation is being handled. There were no announcements or resistance from either Apple or Google, just pure cowardice. 

Then you have Trump outright banning the Associated Press from the Oval Office. Banning reporters because they’re unwilling to refer to the Gulf of Mexico by the wrong name, is a huge sign of what’s to come. What’s next, Trump banning reporters because they call it the White House instead of the Floral White House? I don’t think I have to emphasize how dangerous this behavior is.

Thanks to Apple and Google’s decision, Trump has essentially been given the go ahead to change whatever he wants, and these two companies will follow his go ahead without hesitation. America is going through a major change, and it’s not a pretty one. This map change may seem pretty minor in comparison to Trump’s other decisions, but it’s arguably the most important.

There are all sorts of reasons why Trump would rename the Gulf of Mexico. It could be a sign for a future push on increasing drilling rights in the region, it could be an attempt to show subtle hostility towards Mexico, or could simply be a PR move to appease his supporters.

The official reason is because “The Gulf will continue to play a pivotal role in shaping America’s future and the global economy,” Trump said. However, the truth rarely comes out of Trump’s mouth, and it’s never the whole truth anyway. Whatever the reason, nothing good will come of it.

The fact is that Trump can start rambling nonsensically and not only will GOP members take it seriously, but so will corporations like Apple and Google. Though it’s always been obvious they’ve never actually cared about us, this certainly made it clear for the people who for some reason still thought otherwise.

It’s not all doom and gloom though. Mexico is threatening to sue Google over the name change, so perhaps it’ll be changed back. After all, in the eyes of Google, what’s more important than money? We can scratch integrity off the list at least, for better or worse.