# New Mexico governor rejects Trump proposal to rebrand state

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/trump-signals-intention-to-rename-new-mexico-following-series-of-us-geographic-rebranding-proposals/
- Published: 2026-09-07T14:01:51+00:00
- Updated: 2026-09-07T20:15:00+00:00
- Topics: Americas, Government, Politics, World

## Key points

- White House shared image relabelling New Mexico as "New America"
- Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham rejected the idea outright
- A president cannot unilaterally rename a US state

## Summary

The White House and President Donald Trump renewed a row over New Mexico's name after amplifying a Truth Social image depicting the state relabelled "New America," with the word "Mexico" crossed out in red and replaced. New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham rejected the idea, telling Fox News Digital the state's name "isn't up for debate" and suggesting the administration was using the stunt to distract from concerns such as rising living costs and healthcare access. Neither the White House nor Trump offered any explanation of whether the post reflected a genuine policy proposal, and no formal effort to rename the state was ever announced.

The episode followed Trump's executive order renaming Lake Ontario "Lake America" amid US-Canada trade tensions, and his earlier renaming of the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America." Unlike geographic features, which can be renamed for federal use by executive action, a US state cannot be renamed unilaterally by a president. New Mexico's name predates statehood by centuries, tracing back to Spanish explorers' use of "Nuevo México" in the late 1500s; the territory retained the name after joining the United States in 1848 and became a state on 6 January 1912.

## Coverage

- [Daily Mail: Trump sets eyes on renaming entire STATE after Lake America change](https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16109963/trump-renaming-entire-STATE-lake-america-change.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490)
- [Fox News: After ‘Lake America,’ Trump suggests a new name for the state of New Mexico](https://www.foxnews.com/politics/lake-america-trump-suggests-new-name-state-new-mexico)
- [The Hill: New Mexico governor rips Trump's 'New America' post, says name 'isn't up for debate'](https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/6074788-lujan-grisham-slams-trump-new-america/)

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.