Trump Floats ‘New America’ as New Name for New Mexico

Donald Trump now appears to have set his sights on a U.S. state. A post on social media showed a map of New Mexico with the word “Mexico” crossed out and replaced by “America,” suggesting that the southwestern state could become “New America.”

The response from New Mexico was immediate. Democratic Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham wrote on X that “The name New Mexico is not up for debate.” She added that the name existed before the United States itself.

Lujan Grisham accused Trump of trying to divert attention from the Iran war and a sharp rise in gasoline prices. While the White House spent its time coloring maps, she said, her team in “Nuevo México” was delivering progress in areas such as health care and free child care.

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The name New Mexico is not up for debate.

Her use of the Spanish-language name underscored the deep roots of the Spanish-speaking population and its history in New Mexico. The dispute follows several renaming moves during Trump’s second term, which began in early 2025. He renamed the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” and recently ordered Lake Ontario, which runs along the border with Canada, to be called “Lake America.”

When signing the order on the border lake, Trump mused: “We have a gulf and a lake. Now all we need is an ocean. Maybe we will have to change the name of the Atlantic and/or the Pacific.”

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We have a gulf and a lake. Now all we need is an ocean. Maybe we will have to change the name of the Atlantic and/or the Pacific.