President Trump spent his Labor Day weekend posting maps and memes relabeling New Mexico as “New America,” and New Mexico's governor wasted no time firing back that the state's name is not open for debate. Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who has led the state since January 2019 and won reelection in 2022, posted her response on X, making clear the idea was going nowhere.
According to Reuters, Trump posted several U.S. maps over the holiday weekend relabeling New Mexico's land area as “New America,” along with memes supporting the proposed change. Reuters did not link the posts to U.S.-Mexico trade negotiations. Reuters also noted that the federal government has no authority to actually change the name of a state.
The posts went further than a passing joke. Per Forbes, Trump posted an AI-generated video of himself placing an “America” sticker over “Mexico” on a state welcome sign on Sunday, then posted seven times about the issue within an hour on Monday. The official White House account on X re-shared the campaign, according to the same report. Trump also accused New Mexico of being one of the great vote-cheating states.
Bipartisan Rejection From the Governor's Race on Down
Pushback was immediate and crossed party lines. Both major candidates in New Mexico's 2026 gubernatorial race rejected the idea outright, according to KUNM: Democrat Deb Haaland said “New Mexico is not up for sale,” while Republican nominee Gregg Hull called the idea “not up for negotiation.” Lujan Grisham, a Democrat who governs the state, said plainly that New Mexico's name is not open for debate.
New Mexico's congressional delegation piled on as well. Democratic Rep. Melanie Stansbury posted “Oh hell no!” on social media, and Sen. Martin Heinrich said he would keep using the traditional names for Lake Ontario and the Gulf of Mexico regardless of federal executive orders, the same Forbes report noted.
Why New Mexico Can't Just Rename Itself Overnight
Even if the president wanted to force the issue, he legally cannot. Article I of the New Mexico Constitution states plainly that “the name of this state is New Mexico,” and voters would have to approve any constitutional change, according to Forbes. That's a fundamentally different process than the executive orders Trump has used to rename federal water bodies.
The available reporting here does not establish a specific historical example of a state changing its name. Forbes says New Mexico's name originated in the 16th century.
Part of a Broader Rebranding Push
The New Mexico posts build on a pattern Trump has followed throughout his second term. On his first day back in office in January 2025, he signed an executive order concerning the Gulf of Mexico. Then later in his term, he issued an order concerning Lake Ontario, a change that led Google Maps to display the new name for U.S. users even as Canadian authorities rejected it.
But water bodies and states sit under very different legal frameworks. The sources cited here do not establish the U.S. Board on Geographic Names' founding date, legal basis or jurisdiction.
Latest in a String of Federal-State Clashes
The renaming flap arrives amid a run of friction between Washington and Santa Fe. Hoodline has reported on the Justice Department's lawsuit against New Mexico and three other states over tuition residency rules, and the state has also sued the DOJ over its handling of the Epstein ranch investigation. Separately, Texas's House speaker ordered a study earlier this year on adding New Mexico counties to Texas, part of a broader regional debate over the state's borders. New Mexico's name isn't the only thing federal officials and Texas leaders have recently questioned about the state's territory.
