President Donald Trump shared an image on Truth Social showing New Mexico’s outline, with ‘Mexico’ crossed out and ‘America’ written over it|@realDonaldTrump|Truth Social
President Donald Trump has sparked a fresh debate over place names after appearing to suggest that New Mexico should be renamed “New America.”
Trump shared an image on Truth Social on Sunday showing New Mexico’s outline, with “Mexico” crossed out and “America” written over it. The White House later reshared the post but gave no explanation.
The post came days after Trump moved to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America” in the federal geographic naming system. However, Trump cannot legally change a state’s name through an executive order. New Mexico would have to approve any such change itself.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham dismissed the idea, saying the state’s name “isn’t up for debate.” Sen. Martin Heinrich also rejected the proposal.
Trump has previously renamed the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America and has floated changing ocean names.