President Trump stirred another debate over American place names Sunday after posting an image suggesting that New Mexico could be renamed “New America.”
The image, posted to President Trump’s Truth Social account, showed a map of New Mexico with the word “Mexico” crossed out and replaced with “America.” The White House later amplified the image on its official X account. Neither President Trump nor the White House announced a formal proposal or explained whether the post was intended as a serious policy initiative.
The suggestion comes shortly after President Trump signed an executive order changing the federal government’s name for Lake Ontario to “Lake America.” The August 27 order directed the Interior Department and the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to update the Geographic Names Information System and use “Lake America” in federal maps, documents and communications.
At the signing, President Trump said he had been considering the lake name change for some time. The White House subsequently published video of the executive order signing.
The New Mexico suggestion is legally different.
A president has significant authority over how the federal government refers to certain geographic features, but cannot simply rename a state through an executive order. Fox News reported that neither President Trump nor the White House has announced a formal attempt to change New Mexico’s official name.
Changing a state’s name would require a substantially different legal and political process involving Congress and the state itself, rather than a simple change to federal geographic naming policy.
New Mexico’s name also has a history extending centuries before its admission to the Union.
Spanish explorers used the name “Nuevo México” beginning in the late 1500s. The territory retained the name after becoming part of the United States in the 19th century, and New Mexico officially became the 47th state on January 6, 1912.
President Trump’s post quickly generated political reaction inside the state. Democratic New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham responded that the state’s name was not “up for debate” and pointed to its long history. Democratic Sen. Ben Ray Luján also criticized the suggestion publicly.
The episode follows other geographic renaming efforts during President Trump’s second term. His administration previously changed the federal government’s designation of the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America,” and the more recent Lake Ontario executive order continued that pattern.
Technology companies have also been drawn into the dispute over geographic labels. Fox News reported that Google and Apple updated their maps for U.S. users to reflect the Lake America designation, while other mapping services have taken different approaches to name changes promoted by the administration.
For now, however, New Mexico remains New Mexico.
President Trump’s social media post has attracted national attention and prompted responses from state political leaders, but as of September 7, 2026, no executive action, legislation or other formal process has been announced to rename the state.
The distinction is important. A provocative image posted online can start a political and cultural argument almost instantly. Actually changing the name of one of the 50 states would require far more than editing a map.
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