Trump Proposes Renaming New Mexico ‘New America’ in Social Media Posts, Drawing Bipartisan Reaction
Image Via: Skynews
President Trump suggested renaming New Mexico as ‘New America’ in a series of Truth Social posts on Sunday, prompting immediate objections from the state’s Democratic leaders.
Unlike his earlier renamings of the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Ontario, Sunday’s posts were not accompanied by a formal executive order.
The Posts
Trump’s original post showed a map of New Mexico with ‘Mexico’ crossed out in red and replaced with ‘America.’ The White House reposted the image on its official X account without further explanation.
Later Sunday, Trump posted again, this time sharing an AI-generated video of himself covering a New Mexico welcome sign with the word ‘America.’ He described the state in the post as ‘one of the greatest vote cheating states of all time,’ Trump wrote.
State Officials Respond
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham rejected the idea. ‘New Mexico’s name isn’t up for debate,’ Lujan Grisham said.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez also pushed back. ‘You don’t get to erase New Mexico,’ Vasquez said.
Not every reaction was critical. Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah offered support for the idea, saying, ‘New America? Kind of catchy.’
Part of a Broader Pattern
The posts follow two prior renamings Trump carried out through official channels. He signed an executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America on his first day back in office in January 2025.
In August 2026, amid a trade dispute with Canada, Trump signed a separate executive order renaming Lake Ontario as Lake America for federal government use.
A state’s name is different from a lake or gulf. The U.S. Constitution does not give the federal government explicit authority to rename a state, and legal experts note that a president cannot unilaterally do so.
No Formal Action Announced
Before Sunday’s posts, a false claim had already spread online in early September stating that Trump signed an executive order renaming New Mexico. Fact-checking site Snopes traced the claim to a satirical account and confirmed no such order existed.
As of Monday, neither Trump nor the White House had announced any formal effort to change New Mexico’s name. The state’s name predates U.S. statehood, with Spanish explorers using the term ‘Nuevo México’ since the late 1500s, and New Mexico became a state in 1912.
New Mexico’s Democratic candidates for governor in this November’s election have also rejected the proposal. The White House has not indicated whether further action beyond the social media posts is planned.
