US president-elect Donald Trump has announced plans to rename the tallest mountain in North America, Denali, back to Mount McKinley. This decision comes after former President Barack Obama officially changed the name to Denali in 2015, ending a long-standing naming battle.
Mount McKinley was originally named after the 25th US president, William McKinley, in 1896 by a gold prospector who heard about his nomination for president. Trump, a Republican, believes that McKinley deserves to have the mountain named after him and plans to reverse the decision made by Obama.
However, the local Athabascan name for the mountain, Denali, meaning “the High One,” was officially designated in 1975 by the state of Alaska. Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska, strongly opposes Trump’s decision to rename the mountain, stating that there is only one name worthy of North America’s tallest peak: Denali.
McKinley, who served as president from 1897 to 1901, led the country to victory in the Spanish-American War and implemented protective tariffs to promote U.S. industry. Despite Trump’s plan to rename the mountain, many still believe that Denali is the most appropriate name for the iconic peak.
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Photo credit www.theguardian.com
