Donald Trump has revived his push to put an “America” stamp on geographic names. On September 7, the US President promoted the idea of changing the name of New Mexico to “New America”, posting maps on social media that showed the state under the proposed name. The idea came as US trade negotiations with Mexico intensified.
This is not the first time Trump has pushed for a geographic name change since returning to the White House. His administration has already changed federal references to the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska’s highest mountain. In August 2026, Trump also ordered the federal government to refer to Lake Ontario as “Lake America”.
The four cases are different, however. The president has much greater authority over federal geographic names than he does over the official name of a US state.
The federal government has no authority to change the name of a state, reported Reuters. New Mexico’s name is written into the state constitution. Any official change would therefore require action at the state level and approval from voters, reported US-based media outlet Axios.
Why does Trump want ‘New America’?
Trump’s latest proposal targets New Mexico, a state whose name has been in use for more than 450 years. Trump first said on Sunday that he had received suggestions to change the state’s name and that he liked the idea.
“So much more prestigious and beautiful for the people of that potentially incredible State. Wow, I Love It!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. He also posted several US maps that labelled the state “New America”.
The proposal came as US trade negotiations with Mexico gained importance. New Mexico borders Mexico and has deep historical and cultural links to the country.
But Trump’s proposal faces a basic legal barrier. Article I of the New Mexico Constitution states, “The name of this state is New Mexico.” Changing the name would therefore require a constitutional amendment.
Under the state constitution, all elected members of both chambers of the New Mexico Legislature would have to approve the proposed amendment. The question would then go before New Mexico voters at an election, who would have to approve it.
That means Trump cannot simply issue an executive order and officially turn New Mexico into New America.
People across New Mexico rejected Trump’s proposal, reported Reuters. Opposition came from both Republican and Democratic politicians in the state.
New Mexico State Historian Rob Martinez told Reuters that the name goes back to the 1560s, when Spanish explorers called the area “La Nueva Mexico”. “New Mexico is a beautiful name, it’s historic, it sounds beautiful, and New America does not,” Martinez told Reuters.
The state’s history adds another layer to the dispute. The area was under Spanish rule before becoming part of Mexico in 1821, reported Reuters. The United States later invaded and occupied New Mexico.
New Mexico also has a large Hispanic and Latino population. Hispanic and Latino residents make up about 49% of the state’s population.
Which other places did Trump target?
1. Gulf of Mexico → Gulf of America
The Gulf of Mexico was the first major geographic name change of Trump’s second term.
On January 20, 2025, Trump signed Executive Order 14172, titled “Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness”. The order directed the Interior Department to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America”.
The Federal Register published the presidential document on January 31, 2025. The order said the Gulf was important to US trade, energy production, fisheries and maritime activity.
It instructed the Interior secretary to take steps to rename the US Continental Shelf area formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
The Department of the Interior later said the federal government had updated its official geographic naming system and that the Gulf of America name applied to federal nomenclature.
2. Denali → Mount McKinley
The second major example was Alaska’s Denali.
Trump’s January 20, 2025 executive order also directed the Interior Department to reinstate the name “Mount McKinley” for North America’s highest peak.
The Federal Register said the name had been used officially for the mountain since 1917. President Barack Obama’s administration changed the federal name back to Denali in 2015.
Trump’s order instructed the Interior secretary to reinstate “Mount McKinley” in the Geographic Names Information System within 30 days. It also specified that the national park surrounding the mountain would retain the name Denali National Park and Preserve.
The Interior Department later said federal nomenclature had been updated to reflect the changes.
3. Lake Ontario → Lake America
The third case came in Canada.
In August 2026, Trump changed the federal US reference for Lake Ontario to “Lake America” after trade negotiations with Canada failed to produce a deal, according to Reuters’ September 7 report.
This case differs from New Mexico because Lake Ontario is a geographic feature rather than a US state. The president could direct US federal agencies to use a different name for the lake in federal references, reported Axios.
The change did not require Canada to adopt the new name.
Apple changed its Maps service to show “Lake America” for users in the United States, reported AP. Google also adopted the name for US users, while MapQuest did not make the same change, according to Axios.
The Lake Ontario case also shows the limits of a federal name change. The US government can control the names it uses in its own documents and systems, but it cannot force another country or every private organisation to use the same name.
Why New Mexico is different
Trump’s four cases do not have the same legal status. The Gulf of Mexico and Mount McKinley changes came through a presidential order and federal geographic naming procedures. Lake Ontario became “Lake America” in US federal usage after Trump’s order.
New Mexico is different because its official name is written into the state constitution.
Trump could encourage federal agencies to use “New America” when referring to the state, reported Axios. But such a federal reference would not itself change the state’s official name.
For now, “New America” remains Trump’s proposal, not the legal name of New Mexico.