On Sunday, President Trump shared a map of New Mexico on Truth Social. Someone had removed the “Mexico” portion of the words “New Mexico,” replacing them with “AMERICA” in large red letters. The post had no caption.
The map was just one of dozens of posts he made within less than an hour. The White House officially posted the same picture on X.
That night he followed up with what many interpreted to be a serious proposal.
“Many have asked me to change the name of New Mexico, which is one of the greatest vote-cheating states of all time, to NEW AMERICA. It would be so much better for the people of this potential phenomenal State. WOW … I LOVE IT!!!.” With that comment, he added an animated (AI) video showing him placing a “NEW AMERICA” sign over the existing “WELCOME TO NEW MEXICO” sign, then dancing to “Y.M.C.A.”
Trump: Many people suggested changing the name of New Mexico, one of the great vote cheating states of all time, to NEW AMERICA. pic.twitter.com/iKtMGo9R7c
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) September 7, 2026
Can the president change the name of a state?
No!
There is no presidential button or signature that will allow him to unilaterally change the name of a U.S. state. Ultimately, a state’s name is determined by each individual state. For example, in 2020 Rhode Island officially changed its name but did so through a ballot initiative – without any input or action from Washington.
Legal experts are divided whether Congress could pass legislation authorizing such a change – although some believe they would need to because New Mexico was admitted into the union under its current name in 1912. Regardless, there is clearly one person who has absolutely no say-so in this matter — the President.
It turns out that New Mexico isn’t named after the country of Mexico
The irony here lies in the fact that New Mexico is not named after country. Spanish explorers began referring to the area as “Nuevo México” in the 1560s, well over two-and-a-half centuries prior to Mexico declaring independence from Spain in 1821. The term referred northward to supposed wealthy cities, drawing upon the Nahuatl word for the Aztec central region. It even precedes the founding of the United States.
New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham summed up this argument perfectly when she said, “New Mexico’s name isn’t open for discussion — we’ve used it since before the United States ever existed.”
After that, she shifted focus to gasoline costs, grocery bills, healthcare and housing costs stating: “While the White House spends time colorfully altering maps, Nuevo México is engaged in meaningful work”.
Meanwhile residents in Las Cruces offered a stark response: “You’ll never erase New Mexico — not our name — nor our heritage — nor our culture”.
Why people believed Trump
President Trump has a long history of taking actions on impulse.
In January 2025, he issued an executive order that changed the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America.” He then issued another executive order (on August 27 of this year), during the middle of his trade war with Canada, to change Lake Ontario to “Lake America”. And, he placed his own name on the iconic John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center.
By that logic, when a president has renamed a body of water, a peak and a lake — a satirical post about renaming a state starts to sound quite real.
The bottom line
At no point has New Mexico’s name been altered — and at no point can Trump individually alter it.
