New Mexico Democratic leaders are aggressively pushing back on President Donald Trump\u2019s social media posts about renaming the state of New Mexico as \u201cNew America.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNew Mexico\u2019s name isn\u2019t up for debate \u2014 it\u2019s been ours since before the United States existed,\u201d New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, said in a post on X<\/a> featuring an image of the state labeled with \u201cNew Mexico.\u201d \u201cWhile the President tries to distract Americans from his disastrous war in Iran, the price of gas \u2014and everything else \u2014 keeps rising.<\/p>\n \u201cUnder Democratic leadership here in New Mexico, we\u2019re providing families with free childcare and college, protecting access to health care and investing in housing,\u201d the governor continued. \u201cWhile the White House wastes time coloring on maps, Nuevo M\u00e9xico is busy doing the work. \ud83c\udf36\ufe0f\u201d<\/p>\n Former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the Democratic nominee for governor who is vying to succeed Lujan Grisham in November, wrote on X, \u201cI will always stand up for what makes New Mexico, New Mexico\u201d with a video of her at a campaign event. <\/p>\n \u201cThe only thing I can think of think about when I see that is my opponent, because he\u2019s a Republican, he\u2019s running for New America,\u201d Haaland says in the video. \u201cI\u2019m running to be the governor of New Mexico.\u201d<\/p>\n Haaland\u2019s GOP opponent, Gregg Hull, also rejected Trump\u2019s suggestion.<\/p>\n \u201cNew Mexico does not need a new name,\u201d Hull said in a statement, according to local news outlets<\/a>. \u201cThis state carries the history of Native nations and Spanish explorers who named this land nearly five hundred years ago, and generations of families who built New Mexico into what is is today. That identity is not up for negotiation.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump has prompted outrage among New Mexico Democrats and some Republicans when he posted a series of images on Truth Social depicting the state being renamed as \u201cNew America.\u201d In an AI-generated post on Sunday<\/a>, Trump is shown slapping a \u201cNew America\u201d over a \u201cWelcome to New Mexico\u201d sign, as he does his signature Trump dance.<\/p>\n \u201cMany people suggested changing the name of New Mexico, one of the great vote cheating states of all time, to NEW AMERICA,\u201d Trump wrote in the post. \u201cSo much more prestigious and beautiful for the people of that potentially incredible State. Wow, I Love It!!!\u201d<\/p>\n On Monday, he continued to post<\/a> several more<\/a> images<\/a> on Truth Social, depicting New Mexico as New America.<\/p>\n His latest posts fit a pattern from his presidency, with Trump moving to rename other places on the map. A little more than a week ago, he signed<\/a> an executive order to rename Lake Ontario as \u201cLake America\u201d amid a U.S.-Canada trade war. <\/p>\n In January 2025, on his first day back in office, Trump signed an executive order<\/a> renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the \u201cGulf of America.\u201d He also renamed Denali<\/a>, the highest peak in North America, as \u201cMount McKinley,\u201d after the 25th president. <\/p>\n The move infuriated Alaska lawmakers, including those from Trump\u2019s own party.<\/p>\n Of course, the president cannot unilaterally change the name of a state the way he can order the federal government to change how it refers to a mountain or a body of water in government databases and documents. The name is spelled out in the opening lines of the state\u2019s constitution<\/a>: \u201cThe name of this state is New Mexico \u2026\u201d <\/p>\n To change the name, New Mexico\u2019s voters would need to amend the state constitution.<\/p>\n Both of New Mexico\u2019s Democratic senators rejected Trump\u2019s latest posts.<\/p>\n \u201cThree things I will always call by their actual names \u2026 The Gulf of Mexico, Lake Ontario, New Mexico,\u201d wrote <\/a>Sen. Martin Heinrich.<\/p>\n