Trump Floats Renaming New Mexico 'New America' in Social Media Posts

Trump shared posts over the weekend of September 5-7, 2026 suggesting New Mexico be renamed "New America," posting a map with "Mexico" struck through and an AI-generated video of himself replacing a "Welcome to New Mexico" road sign; the official White House account reposted it. Trump claimed "many people" had proposed the change but signed no executive order, and the White House made no formal announcement. New Mexico's name is written into its state constitution, putting a real change beyond the president's unilateral authority.

The posts drew pushback from the state's Democratic leadership: Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said the rhetoric was a distraction from "his disastrous war in Iran" and rising prices, while former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and Sen. Ben Ray Luján rejected the idea outright. Some Republican allies, including Sen. Mike Lee, voiced support. The episode extends a pattern of renaming gestures — the Gulf of Mexico, Lake Ontario as "Lake America," the Kennedy Center — critics call symbolic power exercises with no legislative basis; a recent poll found most Americans opposed the Lake Ontario change.

No formal process to rename the state has been initiated, and its constitution does not permit the president to do so unilaterally.