A renewed call on Truth Social

On Monday, 19 October, President Donald Trump used his Truth Social account to repeat a proposal to rename New Mexico, the state on the border with Mexico, as New America. He said the state should change its name immediately, arguing that the United States is not Mexico. In his account, the change would give the state greater value and prestige, lift property values and incomes, and make residents prouder to salute the national flag. He also suggested the rename might even turn the state's notoriously fraudulent elections honest again. The posts offered no evidence of irregularities and did not explain how a new name would produce the benefits he listed.

A pitch he has made before

Trump first made the case on 7 September, when he said a rename would make the state far more prestigious and beautiful for its people. EL PAÍS reports that the September push included an image of the state map with Mexico crossed out and America written in its place. The Monday post restates that argument and adds the claims about property values and elections. The proposal is therefore a repeat of a message that had already been publicized weeks earlier, not a new policy step.

Response from New Mexico

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham said the state's name is not up for debate and that it had belonged to New Mexico since before the United States existed. Her response was a direct rejection of the proposal. Trump's post set out no concrete steps that would bring a rename about and did not explain how it would affect voting. The governor's position leaves the decision, as far as the articles show, with no clear path forward.

Legal limits and political timing

EL PAÍS notes that the US Constitution does not explicitly give the federal government power to rename a state. Any such decision would therefore rest with Congress, and the outlet considers a change unlikely before an election that Trump could lose. The post came less than three weeks before the midterm elections, and the main polls show Republicans set to lose control of the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate.

Other renaming moves

Trump's New Mexico push follows other renamings. In January 2025 he signed an order to use 'Gulf of America' for the Gulf of Mexico in official federal documents. In August he signed an order renaming Lake Ontario 'Lake America' amid rising tension and a trade dispute with Canada. EL PAÍS reads the Ontario move as a direct provocation to Prime Minister Mark Carney. The same outlet notes that Trump has put his name on historic buildings, coins and even a cocktail.