Donald Trump apparently isn’t finished renaming things.
Just days after formally ordering the federal government to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America,” Trump is now suggesting that New Mexico should get a new name, too: “New America.”
Trump shared an altered map of New Mexico on social media showing the word “Mexico” crossed out and replaced with “America.” The White House then amplified the post, turning what might otherwise have been another Trump internet oddity into an official presidential signal.
Trump has made changing geographic names a recurring part of his presidency. In August, he signed an executive order directing the federal government to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America” and update federal geographic records accordingly.
The change has already appeared on major mapping services. Google Maps and Apple Maps now display “Lake America” for users in the United States, while Canadian users continue to see “Lake Ontario.”
Trump previously ordered the Gulf of Mexico renamed the “Gulf of America,” another change that has since been adopted by U.S. federal agencies and major mapping platforms.
Now New Mexico has landed in Trump’s crosshairs.
The state’s name, of course, predates Trump by centuries. “New Mexico” dates to the Spanish colonial era, and the state became part of the United States after the Mexican-American War and subsequent territorial agreements.
Trump’s proposed makeover would essentially erase the “Mexico” part and replace it with “America.”
That would make New Mexico “New America”—a name that sounds less like a state and more like the title of a campaign slogan, political movement or dystopian sequel.
And unlike the Gulf of Mexico or Lake Ontario, New Mexico is a state. Changing its legal name would involve a process far more complicated than simply changing labels on federal maps.
For now, there is no indication that Trump has begun that process.
Still, the post fits a pattern that has become increasingly difficult to miss: when Trump doesn’t like a name, he appears increasingly willing to try to change it.
First the Gulf of Mexico.
Then Lake Ontario.
Now New Mexico.
At this rate, Americans may want to keep a map handy—not to find where they’re going, but to check what everything is called this week.
