President Trump stirred up another national conversation over geographic names Sunday when he promoted the idea of changing New Mexico’s name to “New America.”
President Trump initially posted a map of the Southwestern state on Truth Social showing the word “Mexico” crossed out in red and replaced with “America.” The resulting label was “New America.” The White House subsequently amplified the image on its official social media account.
At first, the image came without an explanation, leaving plenty of people wondering whether President Trump was proposing an actual name change or simply provoking another social media debate.
He later went further, posting that “many people” had suggested the change and describing “New America” as a more prestigious and beautiful name for the state. He also accused New Mexico of being “one of the great vote cheating states of all time.” President Trump did not provide evidence for that election-related assertion in the post, and the Justice Department has not established that New Mexico is broadly characterized by widespread election fraud.
Whatever the motivation behind the posts, there is an important legal distinction between floating “New America” online and actually putting it on the official map.
President Trump cannot unilaterally rename a state. No formal White House proposal to change New Mexico’s name has been announced, and Fox News reported that neither the original presidential post nor the White House repost indicated that an official policy initiative was underway.
The episode follows President Trump’s recent decision to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America” for federal purposes.
On August 27, President Trump signed Executive Order 14422 directing the secretary of the interior, working with the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, to update the Geographic Names Information System. The order also directs federal departments and agencies to use “Lake America” in government maps, contracts, documents and communications.
The executive order applies to the federal government’s terminology. It does not compel Canada to stop calling the shared body of water Lake Ontario.
That move came during heightened trade tensions between the United States and Canada. The administration’s order argued that the United States plays an important role in protecting and maintaining commercial access to the Great Lakes, specifically citing Coast Guard icebreaking operations.
The New Mexico post immediately generated political pushback as well.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, rejected the suggestion and pointed to the state’s long-established name and history. Reuters reported that she responded that New Mexico’s name was not “up for debate.”
That history predates New Mexico’s admission to the United States by centuries. The name “Nuevo México” was used by Spanish explorers beginning in the late 1500s. The territory retained the name after becoming part of the United States and was admitted as the 47th state in 1912.
So, despite the attention generated by President Trump’s posts, residents do not need to start rewriting their return addresses just yet.
New Mexico remains New Mexico.
The “New America” proposal currently exists as a presidential social media suggestion rather than an enacted change. Whether it develops into an actual political effort or remains another episode in President Trump’s continuing campaign to reshape geographic names is a question the White House has not yet answered.
Leave a Comment