I may be about to start an argument at the next family gathering.
President Donald Trump wants to rename New Mexico “New America.”
I am willing to hear him out.
But I have conditions. I love New Mexico. I love our name, our mountains, our complicated history and the families whose roots reach deeper into this land than the United States itself. My heritage is part of why I love America. I have never needed to choose between the two.
Nor do I believe we owe anyone a new name because they cannot find us on a map.
Still, there is something about “New America” that makes me pause.
What if we took that name seriously? What if it described the place where this country builds its next great chapter?
Look at what is happening here.
Fujitsu has announced a collaboration to establish a quantum computing research center in New Mexico, connecting its expertise with our universities and scientific institutions. The work promises research, education and opportunities for New Mexicans to participate in an emerging field.
Pacific Fusion has broken ground on a planned $1 billion research and manufacturing campus in Albuquerque. Its ambition is to demonstrate a system that produces more fusion energy than the facility consumes, advancing the pursuit of practical fusion power.
That campus will be a research facility, not an operating power plant. The breakthroughs still have to happen.
But they are being pursued here.
New Mexico helped bring the world into the atomic age through the Manhattan Project. That history carries extraordinary scientific achievement and profound human consequences. We know that changing the world comes with responsibilities.
Now we have another opportunity to help determine what comes next.
Quantum computing. Advanced manufacturing. Fusion research. Renewed interest in the uranium resources that could supply conventional nuclear energy.
These are different technologies, at different stages of development. Together, they point toward a state with a much larger role to play in America’s future.
Whatever these technologies will bring, it must be something that the people of New Mexico without skilled trades - the everyday person can benefit from.
I want a student in Grants to see a future in science without assuming success requires leaving New Mexico forever. I want our tradespeople, teachers, small businesses and working families to have a place in this economy.
I want Cibola County to help lead, with safeguards worthy of everything our communities have already endured.
A new name alone will accomplish none of that. Investment, education, infrastructure and responsible leadership might.
But if Washington wants us to consider giving up something as precious as our name, Washington should expect an ambitious counteroffer.
I want Arizona. Remember that Arizona was once part of New Mexico Territory. Congress separated it in 1863.
If we are reopening the American atlas, I would like to reopen that discussion.
Reunite New Mexico and Arizona. Call the result New America. Let us bring our scientific institutions, energy resources, manufacturing ambitions and people together to help lead the country into its next era.
I recognize that Arizonans would have a few questions. Quite reasonably, they would expect a say.
So would we. That is the point. People live inside these lines on the map. We have histories, loyalties and futures that deserve more consideration than a presidential branding exercise.
My counteroffer is extravagant. My ambition for New Mexico is sincere.
We deserve more than another national joke about whether we belong to this country. We deserve the chance to help lead it—and to share in the prosperity we help create.
If “New America” means investing in that future, I am listening.
If the president wants a deal, he has my opening offer: Arizona.
God Bless Cibola County.
God Bless Bless the United States of America