Kathrine Frich
Maybe the president forgot he already shared the idea.
Changing a place’s name is rarely a simple affair.
Maps, road signs, and centuries of local identity are all tied up in a single label.
Still, one political leader is pushing for a major geographical makeover in the American Southwest.
A second attempt
On Monday, President Donald Trump used his Truth Social platform to demand a fresh identity for a southwestern state.
According to HuffPost, he wrote that “New Mexico should immediately change its name to New America.” The proposal quickly sparked widespread ridicule online.
It is actually the second time in two months that the president has floated this exact idea. Back in September, as HuffPost noted, he posted on Truth Social that the new title would be “so much more prestigious and beautiful for the people of that potentially incredible State. Wow, I love it!!!”
To back up his September pitch, Trump shared an altered map showing the “New America” label. He also posted an AI-generated video where he changed the name while dancing to “Y.M.C.A.” by the Village People.
Fierce local pushback
State leaders are not buying the pitch. New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham dismissed the renewed push right away when speaking to HuffPost. “This tired New America bit again?” she asked, before questioning the motive behind the post.
She also told the outlet that people need to ask which policy failure the president is trying to distract the country from now.
For the governor, local history settles the matter. “New Mexico was New Mexico long before the United States existed and we’ll be New Mexico forevermore,” she stated, wrapping up her response with “¡Viva Nuevo Mexico!”
History backs up her point. As HuffPost reported, the state’s capital city was founded in 1610, making it the oldest in the nation and predating the United States itself. When Trump first floated the idea in September, Lujan Grisham similarly noted that the state’s name has belonged to residents since before the country was born and is not open for debate.
Part of a pattern
Other prominent Democrats from the state also rejected the president’s Monday post. Former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, who is now running for governor in New Mexico, pushed back against the demand, according to HuffPost.
Meanwhile, Senator Ben Ray Lujan, who is not related to the governor, shared his reaction on social media. “We are New Mexicans. We’re proud of our name, proud of our home, and we’re keeping both. Long after Donald Trump is out of office, we’ll still be New Mexico,” the senator wrote.
The proposal fits into a wider pattern for the president. According to HuffPost, he renamed the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” in May 2025, and in August he stated that Lake Ontario ought to be called “Lake America.”
