This is amazing: Trump demanded that New Mexico change its name to “New America,” claiming it would raise property values and incomes. But Democratic Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham fired back with a brutal reminder about American history and Trump's record.
On Monday, Trump posted on Truth Social that New Mexico should change its name “immediately.”
He declared: “We are not Mexico, we are the United States of America!”
Trump claimed the new name would bring greater prestige, increase home values and incomes, and even improve the state's elections, which he called “Crooked.”
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham responded sharply.
“This tired New America bit again?” she asked. “You have to ask — what policy failure is Trump trying to distract Americans from this time?”
Then came the history lesson.
“Let me repeat: New Mexico was New Mexico long before the United States existed and we’ll be New Mexico forevermore.”
The name New Mexico dates to the 1500s, more than two centuries before the Declaration of Independence. The territory became America's 47th state in 1912.
And the governor had more to say.
She pointed to New Mexico's universal, no-cost child care program and its decision to replace federal health insurance subsidies cut by Trump and congressional Republicans.
She also rejected Trump's election accusations. New Mexico ranked seventh nationally in MIT's 2024 Election Performance Index.
There's another problem with Trump's demand. He has no authority to unilaterally rename a state. New Mexico's constitution explicitly establishes its name.
Thank you, Governor Lujan Grisham, for defending New Mexico's history and standing up to Trump's attacks on your state
