Trump demands New Mexico change its name because he thinks it sounds too Mexican
Donald Trump has found a new enemy in his war on maps: the state of New Mexico. In a rambling post on Truth Social on Monday, the President demanded the state "immediately change its name to New America," arguing that the current name lacks "prestige" and is holding back property values.
"We are not Mexico, we are the United States of America!" Trump wrote, apparently unaware or unbothered by the fact that New Mexico has been part of the American union since 1912, and was named by Spanish explorers nearly 500 years ago—long before the United States existed.
The post was not a joke. It was a direct demand, complete with a bizarre economic theory that a rebrand would cause "Home Values and Incomes" to rise, and a familiar dog-whistle: that the name change might finally fix the "Crooked Elections, that New Mexico is known for."
The President vs. 500 Years of History
Trump’s demand is rooted in a profound historical ignorance. New Mexico was not named after the modern country of Mexico. Spanish explorers in the 1500s named the territory "Nuevo México" after the Aztec Valley of Mexico. When the region became a U.S. state in 1912, it kept the name it had held for centuries.
New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham immediately fired back, pointing out the absurdity of a president trying to erase half a millennium of history. "New Mexico took its name long before the United States existed, and we'll be New Mexico forevermore," she wrote on X. She added that the President is clearly trying to distract from his own policy failures.
"This tired New America bit again? You have to ask—what policy failure is Trump trying to distract Americans from this time?"
The 'Crooked Elections' Lie
Trump’s post wasn't just about the name. He explicitly linked the rebrand to his ongoing, evidence-free claims of voter fraud. "Maybe even the Crooked Elections, that New Mexico is known for, would become honest again!" he wrote.
This is a lie. Independent experts and election officials have repeatedly confirmed that New Mexico's elections are secure. Trump lost the state in 2020 and is laying the groundwork to cry foul again if Republicans lose tight races in November. By framing the state as inherently "crooked," he is preemptively delegitimizing the democratic process in a state with a significant Hispanic and Native American population.
He Can't Actually Do It
The most pathetic part of Trump's demand is that he has no power to enforce it. The President of the United States cannot unilaterally rename a state. That power belongs to the state legislature and the U.S. Congress, and requires amending the state's constitution.
But that hasn't stopped him from posting a wave of AI-generated images and memes over the weekend, including a bizarre video of himself dancing to the Village People's "YMCA" while slapping an "America" sticker over the word "Mexico" on a border sign. It is governance by meme, fueled by a base that finds this kind of performative nationalism entertaining.
A Pattern of Distraction
This is not an isolated incident. Trump has made renaming things a bizarre hallmark of his second term. He signed an executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America." He renamed Lake Ontario to "Lake America." He even floated the idea of renaming the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean "Trump Ocean."
Former Republican Congressman Charlie Dent called the posts "bizarre" and accused Trump of "hurting his own team" ahead of the midterms. "It's a total distraction from real issues... It's almost like there's an intentional act to undermine your own party's prospects."
Even Republican gubernatorial nominee Gregg Hull distanced himself from the idea, saying the state "does not need a new name" and that its identity is "not up for negotiation."
The reality is simple. New Mexico is not changing its name. But Trump's demand reveals exactly what his closing argument for the midterms is: not inflation, not jobs, not the war with Iran—but a petty, historically illiterate culture war against a state's name.