American rock musician John Mellencamp used a recent concert to publicly mock President Donald Trump's decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America," pausing mid-song to deliver an unscripted rebuke. The moment, captured on video, has drawn attention as another instance of a high-profile musician criticising the administration from the stage, adding to the ongoing public debate over the renaming.

The incident took place during Mellencamp's performance of his 1983 hit "Pink Houses" at a show in Holmdel, New Jersey, on 25 July, part of his Dancing Words greatest hits tour. After singing a lyric referencing "the Gulf of Mexico," he stopped, questioned the renaming aloud and called it "a stupid f—king idea" before resuming the song to audience cheers. The reference is to Trump's executive order from the previous year directing federal agencies to use "Gulf of America," overturning a name that has been in use since the 1550s; Billboard said it had contacted the White House for comment. Mellencamp's tour continues with a show in Bristow, Virginia, on 29 July and further dates through the end of September.