Trump Floats Support for Renaming New Mexico ‘New America’

President Donald Trump said in a social media post on Sept. 7 that he loved the idea of renaming New Mexico “New America.”

“Many people suggested changing the name of New Mexico, one of the great vote-cheating states of all time, to NEW AMERICA. So much more prestigious and beautiful for the people of that potentially incredible State. Wow, I Love It!!!” Trump wrote.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham rejected the idea in a post on X.

“New Mexico’s name isn’t up for debate—it’s been ours since before the United States existed,” Grisham, a Democrat, wrote.

Trump cannot rename New Mexico through an executive order; it would require action likely to involve both Congress and the state itself.

Changing the state constitution would involve New Mexico’s own amendment process. Under Article XIX, proposed constitutional amendments generally must be approved by the Legislature and then submitted to the state’s voters for ratification.

Trump’s post was accompanied by an AI-generated video of him walking up to a “Welcome to New Mexico” sign and putting an “America” sticker over the word Mexico, before breaking into his signature dance to the accompaniment of the Village People song “Y.M.C.A.”

Trump’s reference to New Mexico as “one of the great vote-cheating states of all time” is a reference to the 2020 presidential election. Joe Biden officially won New Mexico by almost 100,000 votes, but Trump has made accusations of election fraud.

Grisham also accused Trump of trying to distract Americans from “his disastrous war in Iran” and rising gas and grocery prices.

The territory of New Mexico was acquired by the United States following the 1846–1848 Mexican–American War, but it did not become a state until 1912.

The area had been known as Nuevo México, or New Mexico, for more than 270 years before the United States granted it territorial status.

Last month, Trump signed an executive order renaming the body of water between Rochester, N.Y. and Toronto, as Lake America, amid a war of words with Ontario Premier Doug Ford.

In January 2025, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced it was formally implementing Trump’s efforts to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.