The Gulf of America, Lake America and … New America?
U.S. President Donald Trump has already renamed the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” for U.S. federal purposes. Similarly, Trump renamed Lake Ontario, which straddles the U.S.-Canada border, “Lake America.”
Now, he would apparently like to rename New Mexico “New America,” even though he has no legal authority to change the name of a U.S. state.
Trump shared a map of the U.S. border state to his Truth Social account on Sunday. On the map, the word “Mexico” in “New Mexico” is crossed out and below it appears “America.”
Trump subsequently shared an AI-generated video showing him putting an “America” sticker over “Mexico” on a “Welcome to New Mexico” sign. Above the video, he wrote:
“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!!! President DONALD J. TRUMP.”
Trump kept up his social media campaign on Monday, posting another map with New Mexico labeled as “New America.”
On Sunday, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Gresham rejected the president’s suggestion that the state she governs could be renamed.
“New Mexico’s name isn’t up for debate — it’s been ours since before the United States existed. What is up for debate? Who’s showing up for working families,” Lujan Grisham wrote on X.
“… While the White House wastes time coloring on maps, Nuevo México is busy doing the work,” she wrote.
New Mexico’s name isn’t up for debate — it’s been ours since before the United States existed. What is up for debate? Who’s showing up for working families.
While the President tries to distract Americans from his disastrous war in Iran, gas prices keep soaring. Americans are… pic.twitter.com/tnX1gPItDH
— Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham (@GovMLG) September 6, 2026
The New York Times reported on Monday that “Mr. Trump has no legal authority to rename any state, which in New Mexico’s case is written into its Constitution.”
“Any proposed change would have to originate within the state, a prospect that New Mexico’s Democratic leaders rejected forcefully on Sunday,” the newspaper reported.
The Times also wrote that the origins of New Mexico’s name predate the founding of the United States.
“In the 16th century, Mexicans called the territory north and west of the Rio Grande ‘New Mexico,’ according to the Bureau of Indian Affairs,” the Times reported.
Most of the land that now makes up New Mexico, as well as all of California, Nevada and Utah and parts of several other modern-day U.S. states, was ceded to the United States by Mexico under the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the Mexican-American War of 1846–48. New Mexico’s southwestern corner was acquired by the U.S. later, in the 1853 Gadsden Purchase.
Mexico News Daily
