President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to restore the name Mount McKinley to North America’s highest peak, a move that would reverse a decision made by former President Barack Obama in 2015. Obama had renamed the mountain Denali, using the name of the peak’s indigenous Alaskan heritage, following years of debate over the mountain’s title.
Trump made the announcement during a speech to supporters in Phoenix on Sunday, asserting that the mountain should once again bear the name of William McKinley, the 25th U.S. president who was assassinated in 1901. “They took his name off Mount McKinley,” Trump said, calling McKinley a “great president” and affirming that his administration would “bring back the name of Mount McKinley because I think he deserves it.”
The 20,310-foot mountain, located in Alaska, was originally named Mount McKinley in 1896 after a gold prospector learned that McKinley, a staunch advocate of the gold standard, had secured the Republican nomination for president. Despite the name’s historical roots, Obama’s Department of the Interior officially changed the designation to Denali in 2015, citing McKinley’s lack of significant ties to the region.
The name Denali, which means “The High One” in the Athabascan language, had been used by local Native Alaskan communities for centuries. It had been the official state name of the peak since 1975, and Alaskan leaders had long campaigned for its recognition at the federal level.
In response to Trump’s comments, Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska expressed her opposition to the proposed change. “There is only one name worthy of North America’s tallest mountain: Denali — the Great One,” Murkowski wrote in a post on X.
McKinley, who served as governor of Ohio before becoming president, played a key role in leading the U.S. to victory in the Spanish-American War and advocated for economic policies that supported American industry.
This ongoing debate highlights the tension between honoring historical figures and respecting indigenous cultural names, a discussion that continues to spark strong emotions on both sides of the issue.
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