President Donald Trump has suggested renaming the state of New Mexico to "New America" in a social media post, triggering swift backlash from state officials.
What Trump wrote
In a post on Truth Social, Donald Trump claimed that many people had suggested renaming New Mexico, which he called one of "the great vote cheating states of all time," to New America. He wrote that the new name would be
"so much more prestigious and beautiful for the people of that potentially incredible State."He closed the post celebrating the idea and signed off as "President Donald J. Trump."
The viral map behind the post
According to reports, Trump's post followed the circulation of a viral map online that already showed New Mexico labeled as "New America." The map turned out to be a hoax rather than any official document, though it quickly drew attention once it began spreading. Fact-checks have also clarified that Trump has not signed any executive order to rename New Mexico, meaning the proposal remains only a social media post for now.
New Mexico officials push back
Officials in New Mexico have rejected Trump's proposal. State authorities dismissed the idea, making clear that such a name change would not be acceptable.
Trump's history of renaming places
This is not the first time in his second term that Trump has floated changing a place name. His administration previously renamed the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, a change Google went on to apply for US users on Google Maps. He has also suggested renaming Lake Ontario as "Lake America," saying he "maybe wasn't kidding" about it. Other locations, including Fort Bragg, have also had their names changed under his administration.
