Denali or Mt. McKinley? Alaska Lawmakers Weigh In on Trump’s Renaming Plan.

President Donald J. Trump’s plan to return Denali, the Alaska Native name for North America’s tallest peak, to its earlier name, Mount McKinley, has run into opposition from Alaska lawmakers.

Shortly after taking the oath of office on Monday, Mr. Trump surprised many in the state when he announced “we will restore the name of a great president, William McKinley, to Mount McKinley where it should be and where it belongs.”

“President McKinley made our country very rich through tariffs and through talent,” he said. “He was a natural businessman, and gave Teddy Roosevelt the money for many of the great things he did, including the Panama Canal, which has foolishly been given to the country of Panama.”

But Alaska’s two senators, Lisa Murkowsi and Dan Sullivan, both Republicans, said they wanted to keep Denali National Park and Preserve as is, calling Denali the rightful name of the awe-inspiring white peaks, 20,310 feet above sea level in the home of the Koyukon people and other Alaska Native groups.

“I prefer the name Denali that was given to that great mountain by the great patriotic Koyukon Athabascan people thousands of years ago,” Mr. Sullivan said in a video.

In a statement, Ms. Murkowski said she disagreed with Mr. Trump’s decision. “You can’t improve upon the name that Alaska’s Koyukon Athabascans bestowed on North America’s tallest peak, Denali: the Great One,” she said. “For years, I advocated in Congress to restore the rightful name for this majestic mountain to respect Alaska’s first people who have lived on these lands for thousands of years. This is an issue that should not be relitigated.”