Trump suggests renaming New Mexico “New America”

Donald Trump has suggested that the U.S. state of New Mexico should be renamed “New America,” posting an edited image of the state’s outline with “México” crossed out in red and replaced by “América.”

Trump published the image on his Truth Social network, and the White House shared it on X. The picture contained no other message or image.

The suggestion came only days after Trump signed an executive order changing the name of Lake Ontario, which borders the United States and Canada, to “Lake America.” CNN noted that Trump can change the names of geographic features in the Geographic Names Information System, but does not have the constitutional power to legally rename states. That process would have to take place within the state itself.

Trump also used an executive order in January 2025, on his first day back in office, to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. More recently, he suggested renaming the Strait of Hormuz, a major route for 20 percent of the world’s oil, the “Trump Strait.”