Trump slammed by US Governor after he brands her entire state 'New America'
Donald Trump has been told exactly where he can stick his latest wild map rebrand - after New Mexico's furious governor branded his suggestion a "distraction" from the issues that actually matter to American families.
The very public spat comes soon after the president posted a map showing New Mexico relabeled as "New America," with "Mexico" crossed out and swapped for "America", just one of 34 posts he fired off on Truth Social in under an hour on Sunday.
State Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham didn't hold back in her response, telling Fox News Digital that the state's name "isn't up for debate - it's been ours since before the United States existed."
She continued: "What is up for debate? Who's showing up for working families," she said, arguing that while the president "tries to distract Americans," families across New Mexico and the rest of the country are facing higher gas and grocery prices, losing access to health care and struggling to afford a home.
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She added: "Under Democratic leadership here in New Mexico, we're providing families with free childcare and college, and protecting their access to health care. While the White House wastes time coloring on maps, Nuevo México is busy doing the work."
This post is not the first time Trump has taken it upon himself to redraw the world map. In one notorious incident he ordered the Gulf of Mexico renamed the Gulf of America. He also famously did the same to Lake Ontario, which he rebranded Lake America in what was widely seen as a swipe at Canada amid an ongoing trade war between the two countries.
The renaming strategy goes all the way back to Trump's January 2025 executive order entitled "Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness," where North America's tallest peak, Denali, was reverted to its former name, Mount McKinley.
Trump has also provoked the anger of America's northern neighbor by suggesting Canada should become America's 51st state, telling Fox News: "They think they're a state, but they're not a state. Why should we be subsidizing Canada?"
And his previous map changes failed to go down well even with members of his own political party, in particular the group Republicans Against Trump slammed the Lake Ontario rename on X with a blunt: "WTF is wrong with him?"
Mapping app MapQuest also refused to follow suit at the time, posting: "We're not changing it", a position that saw its App Store ranking rise considerably. General manager Doug Berger said the approach reflected the previous position they'd taken with the Gulf of Mexico rename, insisting his app users simply believed in an app that "keeps the names they're familiar with."
Apple and Google, by contrast, look to have caved in to Trump's proclamation by switching Lake Ontario to Lake America for US users on both platforms.
Not everyone's against the New Mexico idea, however. Conservative commentator Eric Daugherty gleefully posted on X: "This man is on a roll!"
And Trump's efforts to rebrand large swathes of territory are not limited to planet Earth. Minutes after the controversial New Mexico post, he shared an image of the moon with the caption: "The moon is ours."
The 80-year-old has looked to cement his legacy throughout his second term of office, from the map controversies to a sprawling, expensive new White House ballroom. Washington residents have witnessed Trump slapping his name on buildings across the capital, including the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Fortunately, according to many, a federal judge later ordered Trump's name removed from the building and for the former name to be reinstated. Despite Trump's efforts to glorify his image, a CNN poll carried out by SSRS in late July found nearly three-quarters of Americans don't believe Trump has prioritized the main "bread and butter" issues that affect their lives the most.
Topics: Donald Trump, Social Media, Truth Social
Michael D. Carroll