USAupdated 33m ago2 min read
Trump Urges New Mexico To Immediately Rename Itself New America
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Trump urged New Mexico to rename itself 'New America' in a Truth Social post. He claimed the change would add value and prestige and reflect United States identity.
Trump pushes New America
President Donald Trump urged New Mexico to “immediately” change its name to “New America,” writing on Truth Social, “We are not Mexico, we are the United States of America!” Trump argued that “The name would add great value and prestige to the State!” and he claimed “Home Values and Incomes would rise” alongside his assertion that “Maybe even the Crooked Elections, that New Mexico is known for, would become honest again!” The proposal revived Trump’s earlier renaming push in which he signed an executive order in August to change the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America” and he took similar action last year to rename the Gulf of Mexico to “Gulf of America.”
CNN said Trump lacks the constitutional ability to legally rename states, while the process would need to happen within the state. The dispute centers on New Mexico’s name, which is written into Article I of its constitution as “The name of this state is New Mexico.”
Pushback from New Mexico
New Mexico lawmakers and a Republican congressional candidate in the state distanced themselves from Trump’s idea, with Greg Cunningham saying, “It’s not something that’s legislatively possible, so nothing’s going to change,” in a debate Friday night.
Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham rejected the proposal by saying, “New Mexico’s name isn’t up for debate — it’s been ours since before the United States existed.”
Lujan Grisham also accused the White House of distraction, saying, “While the White House wastes time coloring on maps, Nuevo México is busy doing the work.”
CNN reported that Trump’s remarks came as Republicans worried about holding their congressional majorities in November, and it said voters in polling told the president he was not paying enough attention to pressing problems.
Fox News Digital described Trump’s latest post as not laying out a formal process for changing the name, even as it noted New Mexico’s constitutional language.
What happens next
The Trump renaming effort faces a legal and procedural barrier because CNN said he does not have the constitutional ability to legally rename states and that the process would need to happen within the state. The Washington Post reported that while Trump can use executive authority to rename bodies of water and other geographic features, he lacks authority to rename New Mexico or other states. The dispute also intersects with mapping and naming conventions, as KRQE said the saga began when Trump posted a photo of New Mexico crossing out “Mexico” and replacing it with “America.”
KRQE added that New Mexico lawmakers spoke out against the president and that a group called on Apple and Google to commit to keep New Mexico’s name on their mapping services. As Trump continued to press the idea on Truth Social, the proposal remained tied to his claims about “great value and prestige” and his election-related language about “Crooked Elections,” while New Mexico officials continued to insist the name is not up for debate.