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🇦🇷 Argentina /Culture & Society

Trump suggests renaming New Mexico “New America” in social media post

From La Nación · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • President Donald Trump shared a map on Truth Social that crossed out “New Mexico” and replaced it with “New America.”
  • The post did not include an executive order, effective date or formal process to change the state’s name.
  • New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and Democratic lawmakers rejected the proposal and defended the state’s traditional name.

Donald Trump suggested renaming New Mexico “New America,” sharing a map that crossed out the state’s familiar name in red and replaced it with “New America.” The image retained New Mexico’s outline and references to Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Roswell and Las Cruces.

many people

· Donald TrumpTrump said many people had suggested changing New Mexico’s name.

Trump posted the map on Truth Social and later said that “many people” had suggested the change. He described the proposed name as “much more prestigious and beautiful” and also shared an artificial intelligence-generated video depicting the renaming. The official White House account reposted the image on X.

But the presidential message did not set out any formal mechanism for changing the state’s name. It included no executive order, effective date or instructions to begin an official procedure.

much more prestigious and beautiful

· Donald TrumpTrump described “New America” in his social media post.

The episode followed other naming decisions associated with the Trump administration. In 2025, the federal government began using “Gulf of America” for the Gulf of Mexico. Trump also recently ordered federal agencies, in certain contexts, to begin calling Lake Ontario “Lake America,” a move that prompted tensions with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and other Canadian officials.

is not up for debate

· Michelle Lujan GrishamThe New Mexico governor rejected Trump’s proposal to change the state’s name.

New Mexico’s Democratic governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, rejected Trump’s proposal and said the state’s name “is not up for debate.” She noted that New Mexico had that name before the United States formally became a nation, while also pointing to issues such as the war in Iran and gasoline prices that she said should command the federal government’s attention. Democratic Senator Martin Heinrich said he would continue using “Gulf of Mexico,” “Lake Ontario” and “New Mexico.” Representative Melanie Stansbury defended the state’s historical and cultural identity, writing, “We are New Mexicans. Period.”

We are New Mexicans. Period.

· Melanie StansburyThe Democratic congresswoman defended the state’s name and its historical and cultural ties.
About this summary

Originally published by La Nación in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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