President Donald Trump used social media to suggest that the state of New Mexico should be renamed “New America,” publishing a series of posts on Yahoo News during a Labor Day Truth Social spree. Trump posted seven times about the issue within the span of an hour, sharing a series of maps showing New Mexico altered to “New America.” According to AOL, Trump wrote on social media that many people suggested the change because it would be so much more prestigious and beautiful for the people of that potentially incredible State.
President Trump Suggests Renaming New Mexico
The proposal follows a history of similar name-changing initiatives from Trump, who has previously targeted geographic features and international bodies of water. On his first day back in the White House, Trump signed an executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America,
a designation that is now used by federal agencies and departments, according to Time Magazine. He also signed an order to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America” amid a trade war with Canada.
State Leaders and Officials Reject the Proposal
New Mexico state leaders swiftly dismissed the president’s suggestion. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued a sharp response, stating that the state’s name is not up for debate and noting that it has belonged to them since before the United States existed. She accused the president of attempting to distract Americans from soaring petrol prices, grocery costs, and the war in Iran.
Other members of the state’s congressional delegation joined in rejecting the renaming effort. Democratic Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján, along with Rep. Melanie Stansbury, opposed the idea. Rep. Stansbury posted a rejection on X, emphasizing that the state’s name carries generations of history, culture, and family.
Legal experts and reports note that Trump lacks the constitutional authority to alter a state’s name. While a president holds certain powers regarding federal geographic references, changing a state name requires approval from voters, as New Mexico’s title is embedded in its state constitution.
Broader Pattern of Renaming Efforts
The social media push regarding New Mexico builds on a broader pattern of second-term renaming efforts by Trump. Earlier, he suggested renaming the Strait of Hormuz to The Trump Strait
during the conflict with Iran, though he later implied he was not serious about that specific plan.
Over the course of his second term, several prominent infrastructure and institutional titles have also been modified:
- Palm Beach Airport near Mar-a-Lago was renamed the President Donald J. Trump International Airport.
- The United States Institute of Peace became the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace.
- The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts was renamed The Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
- A new fleet of U.S. Navy vessels was announced as Trump-class battleships.
- The Trump Gold Card was unveiled for purchasers seeking expedited U.S. residency at a cost of $1 million.
While federal actions and executive orders have successfully changed federal references for bodies of water like the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Ontario—with the latter now appearing as “Lake America” on Google Maps and Apple Maps for U.S. users—state boundaries and constitutional names remain under the jurisdiction of state governments and their voters.
