President Trump has reopened one of the stranger fights of the midterm season. In a Truth Social post on Monday, he said New Mexico should change its name to "New America" right away. He said the switch would lift home values and incomes and would clean up what he called the state's "Crooked Elections."
New Mexico's answer came quickly and from both parties. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Republican gubernatorial candidate Gregg Hull both rejected the idea, and Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver called Trump's election claims false. Hull and his opponent, Deb Haaland, had both already said no once, in September.
The episode matters less for its odds of succeeding than for where it lands. New Mexico has a competitive congressional race and a governor's race on the ballot in the midterms. The president has now put the state's name and the honesty of its elections into the middle of both.
What the President Posted
The post itself could not be independently reviewed for this story. Its wording comes from outlets that quoted it. According to The Hill, Trump wrote, "We are not Mexico, we are the United States of America!" He also wrote, "Maybe even the Crooked Elections, that New Mexico is known for, would become honest again!" Our reading of The Hill was limited to a search snippet, so its wording and the details attributed to it below should be checked against the full article.
He offered no evidence for the economic claims or the election charge. Fox News said so directly in its coverage. Audacy, citing CNN, reported that the post went up shortly before Trump left for a midterm rally in Kansas. That timing comes only from that report.
This is the second round. Trump first floated the rename in early September with a map that crossed out "Mexico" and wrote in "America." Source New Mexico dates that post to Sept. 6, though other coverage describes it only as last month or a little over a month earlier, so the exact date is worth confirming. The White House account on X reposted the map. Fox reported that he brought the idea up again at the RNC Midterm Convention on Sept. 9.
The idea did not appear out of nowhere. The Hill connected it to the administration's renaming of the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. It also pointed to an August executive order that renamed Lake Ontario "Lake America" during tariff talks with Canada. Indonesia's Tempo, through the Antara news agency, reported that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said the lake's name is older than both countries and that Canada will keep using it. The Hill snippet did not cover that account, so it rests on the Tempo report alone.
Officials Close Ranks
Audacy reported that Trump has no authority to rename a state and that New Mexico's name is set in its constitution. The snippet cited no source for that claim.
No one in New Mexico's political leadership appears interested. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham wrote on Facebook that "we'll be New Mexico forevermore," Source New Mexico reported. Gregg Hull, a candidate for governor, put out a statement saying "New Mexico does not need a new name." Hull first opposed the idea in September and repeated that position Monday.
His Democratic opponent in the governor's race, former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, also rejected the rename in September. The Hill reported that she said the president should focus instead on ending "this war," stopping tariffs and lowering costs. Sen. Ben Ray Luján posted his own rebuttal on X.
In September the state's congressional delegation went as far as asking Apple and Google to commit to keeping New Mexico's name on their maps. No reply from either company was reported.
The Election Charge and the House Race
Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver called Trump's election claims false, Source New Mexico reported. The outlet pointed to MIT's 2024 Elections Performance Index, which ranked New Mexico's election administration seventh. The president offered nothing specific to back his charge.
The post also lands in a competitive congressional race. Rep. Gabe Vasquez, a Democrat who represents the 2nd District, faces Greg Cunningham, a former Marine and former Albuquerque police officer. The two debated on Friday. Source New Mexico reported that Vasquez called Cunningham "Trump's boss" figure. Cunningham's campaign did not respond to Source New Mexico.
What Comes Next
No legal or legislative action toward a new name has been reported. Things to watch are whether Cunningham comments, whether Apple or Google respond to the delegation, and whether the White House does more than post. The midterm elections, including the Vasquez-Cunningham and governor's races, are the next test for the candidates who have been drawn into the dispute.
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