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Political leaders from both parties in New Mexico rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s suggestion that the state be renamed “New America,” after he repeatedly posted images using the proposed name, NBC News reported Monday.
Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said New Mexico’s name “isn’t up for debate,” noting that it predates the United States.
“While the White House wastes time coloring on maps, Nuevo Mexico is busy doing the work,” she wrote on X.
Trump posted several images on Truth Social over the weekend and Monday showing New Mexico labeled “New America,” including an AI-generated image of him placing a “New America” sign over a “Welcome to New Mexico” sign.
“Many people suggested changing the name of New Mexico, one of the great vote cheating states of all time, to NEW AMERICA,” Trump wrote Sunday.
Democratic gubernatorial nominee Deb Haaland rejected the proposal, as did her Republican opponent Gregg Hull, who said the state’s identity “is not up for negotiation.”
Democratic Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Lujan and Rep. Melanie Stansbury also criticized Trump’s posts.
“Three things I will always call by their actual names … The Gulf of Mexico, Lake Ontario, New Mexico,” Heinrich wrote on X.
“It’s New Mexico, always has been and always will be. Just like how you’ll always be a sinverguenza and corrupt,” Lujan said, using the Spanish word for scoundrel.
“Our state’s name carries generations of history, culture, and family—and it belongs to us. We’re New Mexicans. Period,” Stansbury said.
A U.S. president cannot unilaterally rename a state.
New Mexico’s name is established in its state constitution, meaning voters would have to approve a constitutional amendment for it to change.
Trump has previously directed federal agencies to use new names for geographic features, including renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” and Denali as “Mount McKinley.”
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