Trump Pushes to Rename New Mexico ‘New America,’ but He Can’t Do It by Executive Order

President Donald Trump is pushing to rename New Mexico “New America,” sharing altered maps and repeatedly promoting the idea on social media. But the state’s constitution creates an immediate obstacle: Trump cannot change New Mexico’s official name by executive order.

Trump first promoted the proposed name Sunday and returned to it Monday on Truth Social. One image showed “Mexico” crossed out in the state’s name and replaced with “America,” while Trump said the new name would be more prestigious.

The official White House account on X also reposted an image promoting “New America.” As of Monday, Trump had not signed an executive order seeking to rename the state, and no formal process to change its name was underway.

New Mexico officials quickly rejected the proposal.

Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said the state’s name “isn’t up for debate” and noted that it predates the United States. Democratic Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján also pushed back, while Rep. Melanie Stansbury said the name reflects generations of the state’s history and culture.

The legal obstacle is written directly into the New Mexico Constitution.

Article I states: “The name of this state is New Mexico.” Changing that language would require a constitutional amendment.

Under Article XIX, a proposed amendment generally must win the support of a majority of all elected members in both chambers of the New Mexico Legislature. It then goes before voters, and a majority of those voting on the proposal must approve it before the change becomes part of the constitution.

That leaves a state name change outside the president’s unilateral authority.

Trump has used executive power to pursue other geographic renaming efforts, including directing the federal government to use “Gulf of America” for the Gulf of Mexico and, last month, ordering Lake Ontario renamed “Lake America” for federal purposes.

His August 27 executive order directed the Secretary of the Interior and the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to update federal records to “Lake America” and required federal agencies to use the new name.

The board standardizes geographic names for federal use. New Mexico presents a different issue because its official name is embedded in the state constitution.

Rhode Island offers a recent example of how an official state name can be changed.

Voters there approved a constitutional amendment in 2020 shortening “State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations” to “State of Rhode Island.” Before the election, then-Gov. Gina Raimondo had already directed executive agencies to stop using “Providence Plantations” in government communications, but the constitutional name still required voter approval.

New Mexico’s name dates back centuries before statehood. Versions of “Nuevo México” were used for the region during the Spanish colonial era, long before New Mexico entered the United States as the 47th state in 1912.

Trump’s proposal follows a series of efforts to rename prominent geographic locations, but New Mexico poses a different legal challenge because changing the state’s official name would require action inside New Mexico itself.

For now, “New America” remains a proposal promoted by Trump rather than an official name change. No constitutional amendment to rename New Mexico is underway.