New Mexico appears to be next on Trump’s renaming list
President Trump via Truth Social
Just days after President Trump signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario as "Lake America" for U.S. federal use, New Mexico appears to be the next target of his geographic rebranding efforts.
What we know:
Sunday, President Trump posted a mapped picture of the state with the word "Mexico" in the name of the state, crossed out and replaced with "America" underneath, alluding to a rebranding to the state of "New America," according to the Truth Social post.
The official White House X account later shared the image. However, neither post had any text or explanation about any official order, policy or any formal plan to change the state’s name.
Big picture view:
Presidents can use executive actions to rename geographic landmarks and features and direct federal agencies to update their maps and databases accordingly. However, a president does not have the legal authority to unilaterally rename a U.S. state.
Renaming US geographic features
Lake Ontario:
The U.S. and Canada, which share borders along multiple Great Lakes, including Lake Ontario, are locked in an extended trade dispute, with the Trump administration imposing 50% tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods after talks between the countries broke down. The two countries have been involved in a verbal dispute since then that culminated in President Trump signing the executive order to rename Lake Ontario to Lake America on August 27.
Gulf of Mexico:
In February, President Trump ordered the name of the Gulf of Mexico be rebranded to the Gulf of America, keeping a promise he made in his inaugural address. Since his first run for the White House in 2016, Trump has repeatedly clashed with Mexico over a number of issues, including border security and the imposition of tariffs on imported goods. He vowed then to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and make Mexico pay for it.
Mount Denali:
President Trump also initiated a change of North America’s tallest peak in Alaska from Mount Denali to Mount McKinley, saying he planned to "restore the name of a great president, William McKinley, to Mount McKinley, where it should be and where it belongs. President McKinley made our country very rich through tariffs and through talent."
The Source: This story was written with information provided by President Donald Trump’s Truth Social account, the White House X account and Fox News Digital. This story was reported from Orlando.