Trump shares map that renames New Mexico as ‘New America’

Truth Social/@realDonaldTrump

President Donald Trump on Sunday appeared to suggest that New Mexico should be called ‘New America,’ posting a photo of the state with the new name days after he signed an executive order to change Lake Ontario to “Lake America.”

The image posted on Truth Social, which was reshared by the White House on X , shows the outline of the state with the word “Mexico” crossed out in red and replaced with “America.” There was no explanation shared alongside the image. The White House has not announced an effort to rename New Mexico. CNN has reached out for more details.

While Trump has the power to rename what geographic landmarks, such as bodies of water, are called in the Geographic Names Information System, he doesn’t have the constitutional ability to legally rename states — that process would need to happen within the state.

In addition to the renaming of Lake Ontario in the system late last month, Trump also used an executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America in January 2025, on his first day back in office.

In response to the post, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, accused Trump of trying to distract Americans, insisting that “New Mexico’s name isn’t up for debate.”

“While the President tries to distract Americans from his disastrous war in Iran, gas prices keep soaring,” she said Sunday on X. “While the White House wastes time coloring on maps, Nuevo México is busy doing the work.”

Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich also pushed back on Trump’s post. “Three things I will always call by their actual names,” he said on X. “The Gulf of Mexico. Lake Ontario. New Mexico.”

The state’s name predates the founding of the United States back to the 16th century, according to a fact sheet on the origin of state names from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Trump has frequently touted his desire to rename landmarks in a show of his presidential power. His move to rename Lake Ontario has come in the midst of tense trade war with Canada.

Shortly after signing that executive order, he also teased potential plans to change the name of one of the oceans on either side of the United States.

“We have a gulf and we have a lake. Now, all we need is an ocean. So, maybe we’ll have to change the name of the Atlantic and/or the Pacific. Maybe we’ll change them both,” he said.

Truth Social/@realDonaldTrump

周日，唐纳德·特朗普总统似乎暗示新墨西哥州应该被称为“新美国”，他在签署行政命令将安大略湖改为“美国湖”几天后，发布了一张该州带有新名称的照片。

Truth Social 上发布的一张图片（白宫随后在 X 上转发了这张图片）显示，新墨西哥州的轮廓中，“墨西哥”字样被红色划掉，并替换为“美国”。图片旁边没有任何解释。白宫尚未宣布任何更改新墨西哥州名称的计划。CNN 已联系相关部门以获取更多细节。

虽然特朗普有权更改地理名称信息系统中水体等地理地标的名称，但他没有宪法赋予的权力来合法地更改州名——这个过程需要在州内进行。

除了上个月底将安大略湖更名外，特朗普还在2025年1月，也就是他重返总统职位的第一天，通过行政命令将墨西哥湾更名为美洲湾。

针对该帖子，新墨西哥州州长、民主党人米歇尔·卢扬·格里沙姆指责特朗普试图转移美国人的注意力，并坚称“新墨西哥州的名称不容置疑”。

“当总统试图转移美国民众对其在伊朗发动的灾难性战争的注意力时，汽油价格却持续飙升，”她周日在X电视台说道。“当白宫还在浪费时间研究地图时，新墨西哥州却在忙着做实事。”

民主党参议员马丁·海因里希也对特朗普的帖子进行了反驳。他在X网站上说：“有三样东西我永远都会直呼其名：墨西哥湾、安大略湖、新墨西哥州。”

根据美国印第安事务局关于各州名称起源的情况说明书，该州的名称可以追溯到16世纪，早于美国建国。

特朗普经常吹嘘自己想通过重新命名地标来展示总统权力。他此次将安大略湖更名的举动正值美加贸易战白热化之际。

签署该行政命令后不久，他还暗示可能计划更改美国两侧海洋之一的名称。

“我们有海湾，也有湖泊。现在，我们只需要一片海洋。所以，或许我们得更改大西洋和/或太平洋的名字。或许我们得把它们两个都改了，”他说。