Denali–Mount McKinley naming dispute

The name of the highest mountain in North America has been a subject of dispute since 1975, when the Alaska Legislature asked the U.S. federal government to change its designation of the mountain from "Mount McKinley" to "Denali". The name Denali is based on the Koyukon name of the mountain, Deenaalee ('the high one'). The Koyukon are a people of Alaskan Athabaskans (also known as Dena), who settled in the interior area north of the mountain. The mountain had been unofficially named Mount McKinley in 1896 by a gold prospector and officially by the federal government in 1917 to commemorate William McKinley, who was President of the United States from 1897 until his assassination in 1901.

In 1975, the Alaskan government officially recognized Denali as the mountain's name and requested that the mountain be officially recognized as Denali by the federal government, as it was still the common name used in the state and was traditional among Alaska Native peoples. This change action was repeatedly blocked by members of the congressional delegation from Ohio, the home state of President William McKinley.

In August 2015, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell officially changed the name to Denali in all federal documents. This came ahead of a visit by President Barack Obama to Alaska in the first week of September 2015. The Obama administration's measure was met with immediate criticism from Republican representatives from Ohio.

In December 2024, President-elect Donald Trump stated that he planned to revert the mountain's federal name to Mount McKinley during his second term. Trump's proposal was met with criticism from both of the state's senators. Upon his inauguration in January 2025, Trump signed Executive Order 14172 which led to "Mount McKinley" again being used for federal purposes. The Alaskan government has recognized the mountain's official name as "Denali" since 1975 and continues to do so.