After Gulf of Mexico’s Lake Ontario, Trump proposes renaming New Mexico ‘New America’ amid push for rechristening | Today’s news
After announcing plans to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America” and the Gulf of Mexico “Gulf of America,” US President Donald Trump made another name change on Sunday (local time), this time proposing that New Mexico be renamed “New America.”
In a Truth Social post, Trump shared an artificial intelligence (AI)-generated video in which he can be seen replacing the word “Mexico” with “America” on a billboard, followed by scribbling. He wrote: “Many people have suggested changing the name of New Mexico, one of the biggest voter fraud states of all time, to NEW AMERICA. So much more prestigious and beautiful for the people of this potentially incredible state. Wow, I love it!”
Trump’s renaming
The proposed renaming of New Mexico comes as the Trump administration seeks to rechristen places and landmarks across the United States, including those shared or adjacent to neighboring countries.
In January 2025, before he was formally sworn in as the 47th President of the United States, he announced plans to rename the “Gulf of Mexico” the “Gulf of America”. Addressing reporters at the time, he said: “We’re going to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the American Gulf, which has a beautiful ring that covers a large area. The American Gulf. What a beautiful name.”
He also floated the idea of turning Canada into the 51st US state and criticized American spending on Canadian goods and military support for Ottawa, saying Washington did not benefit from it, and called the border between the two countries “an artificially drawn line”.
While Ottawa refused to agree to a merger with the US, in August of this year, after trade talks between Washington and Ottawa broke down, the US president renamed Lake Ontario Lake America, which Canadian leaders did not like very much.
After Trump signed an executive order renaming ‘Lake Ontario’, Ontario Premier Doug Ford unveiled a massive billboard-sized message that read ‘Lake Ontario, now and always.’
Trump’s renaming in the US
The renaming continued in Washington as well. As of 2025, the Trump administration has proposed renaming several monuments and institutions, including the Kennedy Center, which was established in honor of former US President John F. Kennedy. While the administration has succeeded in renaming some institutions and landmarks, it has faced lawsuits over others, including a lawsuit challenging the addition of Trump’s name to the Kennedy Center building. A US judge has denied the Trump administration’s plan to add the president’s name to the Kennedy Center despite a Trump-appointed board of trustees voting in favor. But Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Department of Justice (DOJ) officials have threatened that otherwise the landmark institution could face demolition.
Here’s what the Trump administration has renamed or proposed to rename so far:
1. The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as the Trump-Kennedy Center
2. Penn Station in New York and Dulles Airport in Washington in his honor
3. Palm Beach International Airport as President Donald J Trump International Airport
4. The US Institute of Peace has now been renamed the Donald J. Trump US Institute of Peace
5. Navy warships renamed Trump-class battleships
6. The USS Doris Miller will be renamed the USS Donald Trump
