WASHINGTON, October 20 (ANI) — U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday renewed his call for New Mexico to change its name to “New America” in a post on Truth Social.
“New Mexico should immediately change its name to New America. We are not Mexico, we are the United States of America!” Trump wrote, adding that the new name would bring “great value and prestige” to the state and increase home values and incomes.
The post follows a similar suggestion he made in September, when he shared an edited map with “Mexico” crossed out and replaced with “America.” Trump first floated the idea of renaming the state “New America” in early September. Tuesday’s post is his strongest statement on the matter so far.
Under the U.S. constitutional framework, the president cannot unilaterally rename a state. Changing New Mexico’s name would require amending the state constitution, a process that must be approved by the state legislature and voters.
Leaders across New Mexico’s political spectrum have rejected the proposal. Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham dismissed the idea, noting that the region carried the name “Nuevo México” centuries before the modern nation of Mexico was established. Even Republican candidates, including GOP gubernatorial nominee Gregg Hull, have said the state’s name and cultural heritage are “not up for negotiation.”
The proposal is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to rebrand geographic features. Since returning to office, Trump has signed executive orders directing federal agencies to use “Gulf of America” instead of “Gulf of Mexico” and “Lake America” for Lake Ontario.
New Mexico is the latest geographic feature targeted by the president’s renaming proposals.
On January 20, 2025, Trump signed Executive Order 14172, titled “Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness.”
The document, signed on the day of his second inauguration, directed federal agencies to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” and Denali, the highest mountain in North America, as “Mount McKinley,” its federal designation from 1917 to 2015.
“In 1917, the country officially honored President McKinley through the naming of North America’s highest peak. Yet after nearly a century, President Obama’s administration, in 2015, stripped the McKinley name from federal nomenclature, an affront to President McKinley’s life, his achievements, and his sacrifice.
“This order honors President McKinley for giving his life for our great Nation and dutifully recognizes his historic legacy of protecting America’s interests and generating enormous wealth for all Americans.”
Regarding the Gulf of Mexico, the order states: “The area formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico has long been an integral asset to our once burgeoning Nation and has remained an indelible part of America. The Gulf was a crucial artery for America’s early trade and global commerce. It is the largest gulf in the world, and the United States coastline along this remarkable body of water spans over 1,700 miles and contains nearly 160 million acres. Its natural resources and wildlife remain central to America’s economy today.”
It adds: “The Gulf will continue to play a pivotal role in shaping America’s future and the global economy, and in recognition of this flourishing economic resource and its critical importance to our Nation’s economy and its people, I am directing that it officially be renamed the Gulf of America.”
In a recent speech in Clarksville, Tennessee, the president also suggested renaming either of the oceans surrounding the continental United States — the Atlantic or the Pacific — as “Trump Ocean” or “Ocean of the Americas.”
(ANI)
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