President of United States (US) Donald Trump appeared to suggest changing the name of New Mexico to “New America” days after signing an executive order that renamed Lake Ontario “Lake America” for US federal use.
Trump shared an image of a map of New Mexico on Truth Social showing the word “Mexico” crossed out in red and replaced with “America”. The White House later reshared the image through its verified X account.
Neither Trump nor the White House provided an explanation alongside the post or announced a formal proposal to change the state’s name.
The post came after Trump signed an executive order changing the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America” for US federal use. The move took place amid trade tensions between the US and Canada.
Trump has previously used executive action to change the federal name of geographic landmarks. On his first day back in office in January 2025, he signed an executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” for federal use.
However, a US president does not have the constitutional authority to rename a state through executive action. Any legal change to New Mexico’s name would require a lengthy process within the state.
New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham criticised Trump’s post, saying the state’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 in a post on X.
Democratic Senator Martin Heinrich also responded to the post, saying he would continue using the existing names. “Three things I will always call by their actual names,” Heinrich said on X. “The Gulf of Mexico. Lake Ontario. New Mexico.”
The name New Mexico dates back centuries before the territory became part of the US. Spanish explorers used the name “Nuevo México” as early as the late 1500s.
The territory retained the name after becoming part of the US in 1848 and entered the union as a state in 1912.
Trump has repeatedly spoken about changing the names of geographic locations. After renaming Lake Ontario, he also raised the possibility of changing the names of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
“We have a gulf and we have a lake. Now, all we need is an ocean,” Trump said. “So, maybe we’ll have to change the name of the Atlantic and/or the Pacific. Maybe we’ll change them both.”
