WASHINGTON, D.C. (LOOTPRESS) – President Donald Trump is once again calling for the state of New Mexico to change its name to “New America,” arguing that the change would increase property values, incomes and pride among residents.
In a Truth Social post Monday, October 19, Trump urged the state to immediately adopt the proposed name.
“New Mexico should immediately change its name to New America. We are not Mexico, we are the United States of America!” Trump wrote.
“The name would add great value and prestige to the State! Home Values and Incomes would rise, and you would be even prouder while saluting our beautiful American Flag!”
Trump also criticized the state’s elections, claiming that a name change could lead to improvements.
“Maybe even the Crooked Elections, that New Mexico is known for, would become honest again!” he wrote.
The president did not provide evidence that changing the state’s name would increase home values or incomes, or substantiate his allegations about its elections.
This is not the first time Trump has suggested renaming New Mexico.
In September 2026, Trump repeatedly promoted the idea on Truth Social, sharing images of maps showing New Mexico renamed “New America.”
On September 6, Trump wrote that people had suggested changing the state’s name and described the proposed alternative as more prestigious and beautiful.
The proposal drew criticism from New Mexico officials, including Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who argued that the state’s historic name should remain unchanged.
Trump’s latest comments follow several other high-profile naming changes during his second term.
In January 2025, shortly after returning to the White House, Trump signed an executive order directing the federal government to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.”
The same executive order restored the name Mount McKinley to North America’s tallest mountain in Alaska, reversing a 2015 decision by the Obama administration that officially recognized the mountain as Denali.
More recently, in August 2026, Trump signed an executive order changing the federal designation of Lake Ontario to “Lake America,” amid trade tensions between the United States and Canada.
Trump has also pursued name changes outside of geographic locations. In September 2025, he signed an executive order authorizing the Department of Defense to use “Department of War” as a secondary title, although permanently changing the department’s statutory name requires congressional action.
However, renaming an entire state is different from changing the federal designation of a geographic feature.
The president does not have the authority to unilaterally change the official name of a U.S. state, and no formal state-renaming process has been announced.
New Mexico has carried its name for centuries, dating back to Spanish exploration of the region long before it became the 47th state on January 6, 1912.
