US President Donald Trump has suggested changing the name of the state of New Mexico to “New America”, sparking immediate backlash from officials in the state.
Trump made the suggestion on Sunday, September 6, in a post on his Truth Social platform, where he shared an image showing the word “Mexico” crossed out in the state’s name and replaced with “America.”
“Many people suggested changing the name of New Mexico, one of the great vote cheating states of all time, to NEW AMERICA,” Trump wrote.
He added that the proposed name would be “so much more prestigious and beautiful” for the state.
The White House subsequently amplified the post by sharing the altered map on its official social media account.
However, Trump has not signed an executive order renaming New Mexico, and there is no formal process currently underway to change the state’s name. The US president also does not have unilateral authority to rename a state.
The proposal was swiftly rejected by New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham.
“The name isn’t up for debate — it’s been ours since before the United States existed,” Lujan Grisham said, while accusing the president of attempting to distract Americans from more pressing issues.
Other New Mexico politicians also criticised Trump’s suggestion.
US Senator Martin Heinrich said he would continue to refer to the state by its actual name, while Senator Ben Ray Luján insisted that “it’s New Mexico, always has been and always will be.”
US Representative Melanie Stansbury also rejected the proposal, saying the state’s name represents generations of history, culture and family.
Representative Gabe Vasquez similarly said the president could not erase New Mexico’s name, history or culture.
Trump’s latest suggestion comes amid a series of controversial efforts to rename geographic locations.
After returning to office, Trump ordered the federal government to use “Gulf of America” instead of Gulf of Mexico. More recently, he ordered the use of “Lake America” for Lake Ontario in US federal usage.
The proposal to rename New Mexico has nevertheless remained a suggestion, with no legal change to the state’s official name.
New Mexico became a US state in 1912, and its name dates back to the Spanish term “Nuevo México.”
