Donald Trump announced his intention to overturn President Obama’s choice to rename the highest mountain in North America.
The mountain was officially identified as Mount McKinley from 1917 until 2015, when President Barack Obama changed the name to Denali, reflecting the name used by Native Alaskans.
Trump has stated that he aims to restore the name in tribute to William McKinley, the 25th president of the United States.
“They removed his name from Mount McKinley, that’s what happens to people,” he remarked.
“McKinley was a very good, possibly a great president,” the president-elect shared with supporters at the AmericaFest event hosted by Turning Point USA in Phoenix on Sunday, mentioning that the former president contributed significantly to financing the Panama Canal and other initiatives.
“That’s part of the reason we are going to reinstate the name Mount McKinley, because I believe he deserves it.
“There are numerous things we could name, but I feel he is deserving. It’s quite ungracious toward someone who accomplished a lot,” he commented at the conservative gathering, subtly criticizing Obama.
The order from the U.S. Department of the Interior, signed by Obama to change the name to Denali, pointed out that McKinley never set foot on the mountain and had no “significant historical link to the mountain or to Alaska.”
Republican Senator from Alaska, Lisa Murkowski, quickly expressed her disapproval of Trump’s plan by posting an image of the peak on X, formerly known as Twitter, stating: “There is only one name deserving for North America’s tallest mountain: Denali – the Great One.”
A gold prospector first suggested the name in 1896 after learning about McKinley’s nomination for the Republican presidential candidacy, and it was officially adopted 21 years later.
Alaska made the name change to Denali—which translates to “the Great One” in the native Kokuyon language—in 1975 and lobbied federal authorities for decades to formalize this change.
McKinley held the office of president from 1897 until he was assassinated in 1901.
