New Mexico congressional leaders asked Google and Apple on Thursday not to rename their state “New America” on the platforms’ maps should President Donald Trump demand it.
Trump floated the idea of renaming New Mexico as “New America” in social media posts last week, but the state congressional delegation asked the companies to publicly commit to sticking with New Mexico on their mapping services.
Apple and Google have updated their maps to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America and Lake Ontario as Lake America, in accordance with Trump’s directives.
But New Mexico’s congressional delegates said in a letter Thursday that the latest order goes too far.
“Unfortunately, this is not the first time President Trump has attempted to unilaterally rename a place,” they wrote. “In each case, your companies soon updated your mapping services to reflect the President’s whims. ”
They said the companies’ “concessions” to the Trump administration are “disappointing but unsurprising” given the business interests the tech giants have with the federal government.
They mentioned Google’s and Apple’s contributions to Trump’s White House ballroom project, and Google’s settlement with Trump over his suspension from YouTube after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Google and Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The delegation’s five members, Sens. Ben Ray Luján and Martin Heinrich, and Reps. Melanie Stansbury, Teresa Leger Fernández and Gabe Vasquez, are all Democrats.
They argue that changing New Mexico’s name, which was designated by Spanish explorers in the 16th century, requires the state government to change the state’s constitution.
“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,” they wrote.
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