US President Donald Trump has called for the southwestern state of New Mexico to be renamed “New America”, claiming the change could boost its prestige, property values and residents’ incomes.
“New Mexico needs to immediately change its name to New America. We are not Mexico, we are the United States of America!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Monday.
He added that the proposed name would increase the state’s value and prestige, while raising house prices and incomes and making residents feel prouder when saluting the American flag.
Trump first floated the idea in September, describing “New America” as a more prestigious name for the state.
However, the president cannot unilaterally rename a US state. Any change to New Mexico’s name would require an amendment to the state constitution.
New Mexico’s Democratic Governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, previously rejected the proposal when Trump first raised it last month.
The suggestion follows several previous attempts by Trump to rename geographical locations.
In January 2025, he signed an executive order directing US federal authorities to use the name “Gulf of America” instead of “Gulf of Mexico”.
In August, he signed another executive order directing federal agencies to rename Lake Ontario, which borders the United States and Canada, as “Lake America”.
Trump also raised the possibility of renaming the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean “Trump Ocean” or “Ocean of the Americas” during a rally in Tennessee on October 10.
His latest proposal has yet to result in any formal change to New Mexico’s name.
