New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham rejected President Donald Trump's suggestion to rename her state 'New America' on Thursday, calling the proposal an insult to its Hispanic and Native American heritage. She emphasized that no president has the power to rename a state.

The dispute followed a social media post by Trump on Tuesday featuring a doctored map that relabeled New Mexico as 'New America.' The post continued a pattern of provocative renaming gestures, including his earlier move to designate the Gulf of Mexico the 'Gulf of America.'

Democratic senators Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján joined the governor in condemning the post. They noted that changing a state's name would require action by the state legislature and potentially a constitutional amendment, not a presidential decree.

Hispanic and tribal advocacy groups, including the All Pueblo Council of Governors, criticized the gesture as demeaning to communities whose roots predate the founding of the United States. Republican officials in the state largely stayed silent, while the White House defended the post as a statement of patriotism.

The episode deepened tensions between the Trump administration and Democratic-led states heading into the November midterms, with New Mexico officials framing the fight as a defence of identity and history.