Trump proposes renaming New Mexico to “New America”
He posted a video on Truth Social showing a New Mexico sign relabeled “New America”; state leaders dismissed the idea.
President Donald Trump posted a short video on his Truth Social account proposing that the U.S. state of New Mexico be renamed “New America.” The clip shows a standard New Mexico road sign with the word "Mexico" covered by a sticker reading "America," and Trump also shared a map image labeling the state with the new name.
Reaction and context
Trump accompanied the post with a message arguing the new name would be more prestigious and suggesting election fraud in the state. He wrote: "Many people suggested changing the name of New Mexico, one of the greatest states of all time where votes are stolen, to 'New America'. Much more prestigious and nicer for the residents of this potentially incredible state."
The post did not explain whether the move was symbolic or the start of a formal effort to change the state's name. Earlier this year and late last month, Trump used executive orders to alter the official names of other geographical features in federal systems—most notably an order to list Lake Ontario as "Lake America" and a January 2025 order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the "American Gulf." After that earlier decree he even floated changing the names of one or both oceans that border the United States, writing: "We have a gulf and we have a lake. Now we only need an ocean. Maybe we'll have to change the name of the Atlantic and/or Pacific Ocean. Maybe we'll change both."
New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, pushed back, accusing Trump of trying to distract Americans from other issues and saying the state's name is not up for debate. She wrote: "While the president tries to distract Americans from his catastrophic war in Iran, gas prices continue to rise. While the White House wastes time painting maps, New Mexico is busy working."
Senator Martin Heinrich, also a Democrat from New Mexico, responded on X by stressing he will continue to use traditional names: "Three things I will always call by their real names, and those are the Gulf of Mexico, Lake Ontario and New Mexico."
Legal experts note that while a president can direct federal naming databases to alter how certain geographic features are listed in systems such as the U.S. Board on Geographic Names and the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), the U.S. Constitution does not grant the president authority to unilaterally rename a state. A formal change to a state's name would require action by the state itself and, depending on the mechanism, possible involvement by Congress.
Photo: Daniel Torok / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
