President Donald Trump suggested in a recent Truth Social post that the U.S. state of New Mexico should be renamed “New America.” The image posted on Truth Social, which was reshared by the White House on X, shows the outline of the state with the word “Mexico” crossed out in red and replaced with “America.” There was no explanation accompanying the image.
The post comes after Trump signed an executive order last month directing the U.S. government to refer to Lake Ontario as “Lake America.” Trump signed the order on Thursday, Aug. 27, directing U.S. federal agencies to adopt the new name in official documents and maps. The move follows his earlier decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” and restore the name Mount McKinley for Denali.
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According to CNN, while Trump has the power to rename geographic landmarks, such as bodies of water, in the Geographic Names Information System, he does not have the constitutional authority to legally rename states.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, responded to Trump’s post, saying that Trump was trying to distract Americans, insisting that “New Mexico’s name isn’t up for debate.”
“While the President tries to distract Americans from his disastrous war in Iran, gas prices keep soaring,” she said Sunday on X. “While the White House wastes time coloring on maps, Nuevo México is busy doing the work.”
Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich also criticized Trump’s post.
“Three things I will always call by their actual names,” he said on X. “The Gulf of Mexico. Lake Ontario. New Mexico.”
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According to a fact sheet on the origin of state names from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the state’s name dates back to the 16th century, predating the founding of the United States.
Trump has long talked about renaming geographic landmarks. His move to rename Lake Ontario came amid a trade war with Canada.
Trump has also suggested potential plans to change the name of one of the oceans on either side of the United States.
“We have a gulf and we have a lake. Now, all we need is an ocean. So, maybe we’ll have to change the name of the Atlantic and/or the Pacific. Maybe we’ll change them both,” he said shortly after renaming Lake Ontario.