Luján, N.M. Delegation Call on Apple, Google to Keep New Mexico’s Name on Mapping Services

N.M. Delegation Demands Commitment Following Trump’s Post to Rename New Mexico “New America” Luján’s Reaction Following Trump’s Post : It’s New Mexico, always has been and always will be. Just like how you’ll always be a sinvergüenza and corrupt. Santa Fe, N.M. – Today, U.S. Senators Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), and U.S. Representatives Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.), Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), and Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) called on Apple and Google to publicly commit to keeping New Mexico’s name on their mapping services following President Trump’s threatening post that the state be renamed “New America.” In a letter to Apple CEO John Ternus and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Senator Luján and the New Mexico Delegation clearly state that President Trump does not have the legal authority to unilaterally rename New Mexico and calls on the companies to commit to continuing to identify the state as New Mexico on Apple Maps and Google Maps, regardless of pressure from the Trump administration. Over Labor Day weekend, President Trump published a series of erratic social media posts, including posts suggesting that New Mexico be renamed “New America.” President Trump has previously directed the federal government to use new names for geographic features, including the Gulf of Mexico, Denali, and Lake Ontario. “Let us be clear: the President has no legal authority to rename New Mexico. Our state’s name belongs to the people of New Mexico and is rooted in our history and our Constitution, which clearly states that ‘the name of this state is New Mexico,’” wrote the lawmakers . “We ask each of you to publicly commit that Apple Maps and Google Maps will continue to identify the State of New Mexico as New Mexico, regardless of what the President posts on social media, what executive order he attempts to issue, or what pressure he puts on your companies,” continued the lawmakers . Full text of the letter is available here and below . Dear Mr. Ternus and Mr. Pichai: This weekend, rather than addressing the affordability crisis, ending his illegal war in Iran that has driven up gas prices, removing tariffs that are raising costs for American families, or honoring our nation’s workers, President Trump published more than a hundred posts to his Truth Social account. In several of them, the President suggested renaming our home state of New Mexico, “New America.” Let us be clear: the President has no legal authority to rename New Mexico. Our state’s name belongs to the people of New Mexico and is rooted in our history and our Constitution, which clearly states that “the name of this state is New Mexico.” The United States Constitution does not give the President the power to unilaterally rename a state and an executive order cannot amend New Mexico’s Constitution or change the legal identity of our state. Changing New Mexico’s name would require changing our state Constitution through New Mexico’s own constitutional process. Unfortunately, this is not the first time President Trump has attempted to unilaterally rename a place. In 2025, through an executive order, the President directed the federal government to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America” and Denali to “Mount McKinley.” Most recently, the President ordered the federal government to refer to Lake Ontario as “Lake America.” In each case, your companies soon updated your mapping services to reflect the President’s whims. According to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, the President even reached out to Apple directly, pressuring the company to change Lake Ontario to “Lake America.” This is disappointing but unsurprising. Both of your companies have significant business interests before the federal government. These include antitrust enforcement, tariffs, regulation of artificial intelligence and online platforms, and federal contracting opportunities. This is not the first time your companies have made concessions to this President and this Administration. For example, after the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol and our democracy, YouTube suspended President Trump from its platform. President Trump subsequently sued over that decision. Last year, Google agreed to pay $24.5 million to settle that lawsuit with $22 million directed toward the President’s new White House ballroom. In addition, both Google and Apple are among the corporations that have donated to the ballroom project – a project that has not been authorized by the United States Congress. Because of this history, we ask each of you to publicly commit that Apple Maps and Google Maps will continue to identify the State of New Mexico as New Mexico, regardless of what the President posts on social media, what executive order he attempts to issue, or what pressure he puts on your companies. Again, the name has belonged to the people of New Mexico since before the United States existed. It should not become a political football to be negotiated between an unhinged President and two of the most powerful technology companies in the world. We ask for your public commitment to maintaining New Mexico’s name by September 18. ###