President Donald Trump spent part of the Labor Day weekend posting on social media, promoting the idea of changing the name of the state of New Mexico to 'New America'. This push comes as tense trade negotiations with Mexico are intensifying. Trump posted several maps of the U.S. that showed New Mexico relabeled as 'New America'. This move is consistent with his past efforts to rename geographic features like the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Ontario to include 'America' via executive orders, although changing a state's name is not within his unilateral power.
The suggestion has drawn significant criticism from New Mexico Democrats and residents. Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham stated that "New Mexico’s name isn’t up for debate — it’s been ours since before the United States existed," linking Trump's actions to attempts to distract from other issues such as a "disastrous war in Iran" and rising gas prices. Former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, a Democratic nominee for governor, also vowed to "always stand up for what makes New Mexico, New Mexico." Both of New Mexico's Democratic senators, Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Lujan, and Representative Melanie Stansbury, strongly rejected the idea, with Stansbury posting "Oh hell no!" and emphasizing the state's rich history and culture.
New Mexicans have also expressed derision towards the proposal. Ethel Yazza, a 67-year-old member of New Mexico's Santa Clara and Picuris indigenous communities, voiced her opposition to renaming the state. The president cannot unilaterally change a state's name; it would require an amendment to the state's constitution, which would need approval from New Mexico's voters. Trump's social media posts included an AI-generated image of him slapping a 'New America' label over a 'Welcome to New Mexico' sign and a statement suggesting that "Many people suggested changing the name of New Mexico, one of the great vote cheating states of all time, to NEW AMERICA."
