Donald Trump demands US state change its name ‘immediately’
Locals in New Mexico have pushed back after Donald Trump demanded the state change its name “immediately”.
The US president made the demand in a post on Truth Social on Monday.
Donald Trump has a history of forcing name changes on long-established landmarks. AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein
"New Mexico should immediately change its name to New America," he wrote.
"We are not Mexico, we are the United States of America!"
Trump went on to make some specious arguments about what would happen if the name was changed.
"The name would add great value and prestige to the State! Home Values and Incomes would rise, and you would be even prouder while saluting our beautiful American Flag!
"Maybe even the Crooked Elections, that New Mexico is known for, would become honest again!"
Congresswoman Melanie Stanbury pushed back against Trump's demand.
"Mr President, our state is not yours to rename. Our history is not yours to erase. Our culture and identity run deep, shaped by generations of New Mexicans long before you or the US were here at all," the New Mexico Democrat said.
"We are proud of who we are and where we come from. Because we are New Mexicans."
Deb Haaland, who is the Democratic nominee for the governor’s race, called out Trump.
Deb Haaland has pushed back on Trump’s demand to rename New Mexico. AP
"New Mexico is New Mexico, and you lost here three times because you're corrupt and don't care about working people," she said in a statement directed at Trump.
"You should be focused on ending this war, stopping these tariffs, and making things less expensive–not renaming our state."
Even Bernie Sanders, who represents Vermont on the other side of the country, weighed in.
"The American people don’t want you to immediately rename New Mexico to New America," Sanders said.
"They want you to immediately end your illegal Iran War that is forcing Americans to pay $4.30 a gallon for gas, $6.30 a gallon for diesel & $6.04 a gallon for heating oil."
Republicans in the state are keeping quiet on Trump's demands two weeks before November's midterm elections.
But gubernatorial nominee Gregg Hull rebuked the suggestion when Trump first floated it last month.
“New Mexico does not need a new name,” Hull said.
“This state carries the history of Native nations and Spanish explorers who named this land nearly five hundred years ago, and generations of families who built New Mexico into what it is today. That identity is not up for negotiation.”
New Mexico’s name predates the US itself.
Donald Trump has no power to rename New Mexico. AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson
The region was named San Felipe del Nuevo México by Spanish explorers in 1581, several years before the first English attempt at a colony in North America.
The state is one of America's largest, located on the Mexican border between Texas and Arizona.
Since the beginning of the US, no state has changed its name.
Such a move would likely require a constitutional amendment in most states followed by a referendum.
A president would have no power to force a change.
The closest any state came was a push to drop the word North from North Dakota.
Advocates of that name change believed the word North had connotations of cold weather, believing it was bad for tourism. The state has the coldest weather in the US outside of Alaska.
The North Dakota legislature rejected several attempts at the name change.
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