New Mexico’s governor claps back at Trump’s plan to rename her state

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, has rejected President Donald Trump's latest demand that New Mexico become New America, accusing him of trying to divert attention from policy failures. Trump, 80, revived the idea in a Monday Truth Social post, arguing that a new name would lift property values and incomes and might even make elections honest. A president cannot rename a state; that would have to be done by the state, according to The Independent.

Lujan Grisham replied on X that New Mexico predates the United States and will keep its name. She cited free universal child care and said it is the only state to fully replace health care subsidies cut by Trump and congressional Republicans. Independent experts, she said, consider its voting secure.

The dispute follows Trump's other renaming orders: federal agencies were told in August to call Lake Ontario Lake America, and last January to call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. Apple and Google Maps changed their U.S. labels accordingly. Last month, New Mexico's five Democratic members of Congress asked both companies to publicly commit to keeping the state's name, saying the president lacks legal authority.

Summarized by PolitiKool from The Independent’s reporting. Read the full story at The Independent →