What’s New
President-elect Donald Trump vowed on Sunday to rename the tallest mountain peak in the United States, the “Denali” back to its former name “Mount McKinley.”
Newsweek has reached out to Trump’s transition team and the National Park Service via email for comment on Sunday afternoon.
Why It Matters
The peak, located in Denali National Park and Preserve in south-central Alaska, is the tallest mountain in the U.S., with an elevation of more than 20,000 feet. It was previously named Mount McKinley in 1896 after Republican William McKinley, the 25th U.S. president who was assassinated in 1901.
Then-President Barack Obama had then changed the name of the peak to Mount Denali during a 2015 trip to Alaska in an effort to recognize Alaska Natives and the language they have used for centuries as the name means “the high one” in Athabaskan.
For years, local officials pressed the federal government to adopt Denali since Alaska officially designated it as the mountain peak’s name in 1975. It was seen as an effort to preserve the Native name, which historically had been dismissed or completely ignored by American mapmakers in the 1900s.
What to Know
Trump, who spoke in Phoenix on the final day of AmericaFest, an annual convention put on by Turning Point USA, told his supporters that McKinley should have his name restored on the tallest mountain in the U.S. because he was a “great president” who “deserves it.”
“McKinley was a very good, maybe a great president. They took his name off Mount McKinley. That’s what they do to people. President McKinley was the president that was responsible for creating a vast sum of money. That’s one of the reasons that we’re going to bring back the name of Mount McKinley, because I think he deserves it,” the president-elect said.
While the name change to Denali had been praised by local officials, the name change also drew scrutiny from Ohio and other GOP lawmakers. According to the White House website on presidents, McKinley, who served two terms as governor of Ohio before becoming president in 1897, led the country to victory in the Spanish-American War and raised protective tariffs to promote U.S. industry.
President-elect Donald Trump speaks in Phoenix on December 22. Trump vowed on Sunday to rename the tallest mountain peak in the United States, the “Denali” back to its former name “Mount McKinley.”
President-elect Donald Trump speaks in Phoenix on December 22. Trump vowed on Sunday to rename the tallest mountain peak in the United States, the “Denali” back to its former name “Mount McKinley.”
JOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images
What People Are Saying
During his first term, Trump had asked Alaska’s two Republican senators in a private meeting in March 2017 if they wanted to reverse Obama’s decision, according to CNN. However, the senators, Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, told Trump to keep Denali’s name intact.
Sullivan said in October 2017: “He looked at me and said, ‘I heard that the big mountain in Alaska also had—also its name was changed by executive action. Do you want us to reverse that?’ Lisa—Sen. Murkowski—and I jumped over the desk. We said ‘no, no! The Alaska Native people named that mountain over 10,000 years ago.’ Denali, that was the name.”
Speaking to the meaning and the history of the Athabaskan language, University of Alaska linguist James Kari, noted to the National Park Service in February there are five Athabaskan languages surrounding the park, each with its own oral place name.
He said that the groups to the north and west of the mountain (and Alaska Range) use words that translate to “the tall one.” The Athabaskan languages to the south of the mountain use words that mean “mountain-big.” The name “Denali” stems from “deenaalee,” which is from the Koyukon language traditionally spoken on the north side.
What Happens Next
While it is unclear if Trump will rename the mountain when he takes office in January, changing the name of a mountain, lake or other geographical feature in a national park is often a lengthy process.
According to the National Park Service, a proposal must be submitted to the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN), which requires a compelling reason for the change and involves gathering input from local governments, relevant state authorities, and Native American groups. In addition, any name change would likely need to be approved through an act of Congress.
