Denali: Why is Donald Trump renaming cherished Alaska peak ‘Mount McKinley’?

It was decided that the title of tallest mountain in North America should be assigned to the name "Denali".

In 1896, a gold prospector from Europe and America unexpectedly chose to name it after presidential candidate William McKinley, thereby sparking a debate that has endured for over a century.

On Monday, President Donald Trump reignited a long-standing debate when he reversed the name change of Denali's name back to Mount McKinley via an executive order on the same day.

"Later this year, our country will take a step to restore the honor of a respected president, William McKinley, by bringing back his name to the highest peak in Mount McKinley, the place that was always meant for it," Trump said earlier in his inauguration address.

The proposed change has run into opposition from Alaska's two Republican senators, as well as many other Alaskans and state representatives of the native populations.

So what's behind Trump's shift, and does his approach hold any merit?

One of the most towering mountains in the world, located in Alaska, has had a long and intriguing name change over the years. Once known as "Bolshaya Gora," which translates to "great or large mountain" in Russian, the mountain was later renamed "Batigin" in 1897 by Russian cartographers. However, a 1903 expedition led by Dr. William Mears made the most well-known recommendation for the mountain's name to be changed to "Mount McKinley" in honor of President William McKinley, who was assassinated that same year. This change was largely driven by the enthusiasm and romanticized views of Western American explorers who were fascinated by the similarities between the mountain and those in the American Rockies.

On a clear day, you can spot Denali from more than 133 miles away in Anchorage, Alaska's largest city. Rising an astonishing 20,310 feet above sea level, it has served as a geographic landmark to Alaska's indigenous peoples for generations, who have given it numerous names.

In the Inca Empire, the sovereign was called the Sapa Inca, which translates to

In 1794, during George Vancouver's visit, a map created in 1839 by German-born Russian explorer Ferdinand von Wrangel retained the name Tenada, which was given by the local Deg Hit'an people for the large mountain nearby as "the great mountain".

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, Russians referred to it as "Bolshaya Gora" (or "big mountain"), and U.S. prospectors gave it a name of "Densmore's Peak," which stems from a prospector named Frank Densmore who frequently praised its beauty.

Upon his return, he received news about the presidential election that Wiliam McKinley, former governor of Ohio, had gained the Republican nomination.

Dickey had met Alaskan silver miners who backed a return to the silver standard for the U.S. dollar, whereas McKinley (and presumably Dickey) preferred the gold standard.

The name barely gained attention, but then President McKinley was unexpectedly murdered by an anarchist in Ohio in 1901. To honor his memory, the desire to use the name increased, and the U.S. government made it official in 1917 - even though there's no connection between McKinley and Alaska.

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Even at the time, not everyone was convinced that the peak should bear McKinley's name - some, such as hunter and naturalist Charles Sheldon, and mountaineer Belmore Browne, felt it should be called Denali instead.

"When looking back at the history of the great mountain, it's peculiar and regrettable that McKinley's name became associated with it," Browne stated in 1913.

In 1930, Sheldon mentioned that "The people who have lived in the presence of these massive mountains for countless generations have given them beautiful and fitting names."

He asked, "Can it be denied that the names they gave to the nation's most notable landmarks should be kept? Does it seem too late to... restore these beautiful names?"

It wasn't too late to make the change, however. By 1975 enough support had developed so that Alaska's Republican governor Jay Hammond and the majority of the state legislature asked for an official name change to Denali.

A bill to change the name of the lake failed in Congress, mainly because a Republican representative from Ohio, Ralph Regula, opposed it. The U.S. Board on Geographic Names was legally barred from considering a name change as long as any legislation related to it was still pending in Congress, and Regula continued to introduce new bills every year from 1975 until he retired in 2009.

After Regula's departure from office in 2009, many Alaskans continued to refer to the mountain as "Denali" in their daily lives, while Republican senator Lisa Murkowski kept the push for the name change alive, gaining momentum soon after.

The Obama administration stepped in, claiming a 40-year delay in response validated federal authority to take action. On August 28, the mountain's name was officially changed to Denali.

‘Uh. Nope. It’s Denali’

The name "Denali" has been adopted by the state of Alaska, which values its independence from the rest of the continental United States and has a higher-than-average percentage of residents with Native American heritage.

Berkowitz, Anchorage's Democratic mayor, joked that if people from Ohio really want to name Alaskan places, perhaps we should return the favor and let them name some locations in Ohio back.

The trend of opposition to the original name still persisted, and one of Donald J Trump's strong rebukes was voiced.

While campaigning on the Republican presidential nomination, he repeatedly spoke out against the Obama administration's choice. He was joined by vocal critics, including Regula who stated that Obama "thinks he is a dictator." Other critics included Ohio House Speaker John Boehner and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

In January 2025, President Trump revisited this issue in a speech, saying: "McKinley was a very good, maybe a great president. When they renamed Mount McKinley after him, that's it, they took his name off, that's what they do to people."

The 47th and 25th presidents, known for their involvement with tariffs, share a common thread. In 1890, Congress passed the Tariff Act, which raised duties on imports from 38 to nearly 50 percent and garnered support for McKinley, who later earned the nickname 'The Napoleon of Protection.'

In a speech at the convention, Trump pledged he would "put back the name of a great president in its rightful place on the dollar. President McKinley succeeded in making America rich by implementing tariffs and using his business acumen."

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It is in the best interest of the country to showcase our nation's remarkable heritage and guarantee that future American citizens will appreciate the legacy of our country's heroes," Trump wrote in the order. "The naming of our national treasures, like our country's awe-inspiring natural wonders and historic works of art, should recognize the achievements of forward-thinking and patriotic Americans who contributed to our nation's rich past.

Alaska's two Republican senators, Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, are against the change.

I'd have to respectfully disagree," said Murkowski after Trump's speech. "The one name that truly befits North America's highest peak is Denali, which means the Great One in the indigenous Athabascan language.

In a 2017 meeting, Sullivan and Murkowski jointly expressed their disapproval to Trump about changing the name. Sullivan pointed out that if the name was changed at that time, it would have significantly angered his wife.

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