Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) said Saturday that President Donald Trump’s proposal to rename New Mexico “New America” would not raise incomes. He argued that ending Trump’s blanket tariffs and the war with Iran would help working families more. He has voted against the war and sponsored a resolution against tariffs.
Krishnamoorthi’s full post, published at 10:15 a.m. on Oct. 24, 2026, read:
Trump thinks renaming New Mexico “New America” will somehow raise incomes.
You know what would actually help working families? Ending his blanket tariffs and illegal war in Iran that are driving up prices.
The post responds to a Common Dreams article about Trump’s Truth Social post. In it, Trump wrote that New Mexico should immediately change its name to New America. He added that the name would add value and prestige and that home values and incomes would rise.
The article reports responses from New Mexico and California officials. Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), who recently led the state’s congressional delegation in asking Apple and Google to keep the state’s name on their maps, said the name predates the United States by hundreds of years. Deb Haaland, a Democrat running for governor of New Mexico, said the state is New Mexico and urged Trump to focus on ending the war and stopping tariffs. California state Sen. Scott Wiener also criticized the idea on social media.
The article adds background on Trump’s naming efforts. It says he has already renamed the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Ontario, though the new names are not recognized internationally, and has floated renaming the Strait of Hormuz.
The article describes the Iran conflict as a protracted U.S.-Israeli war and says the U.S. military has been unable to gain control of the Strait of Hormuz. Krishnamoorthi’s post makes two claims beyond the rename: that blanket tariffs raise prices, and that the war in Iran does too.
Krishnamoorthi on tariffs
Krishnamoorthi has opposed Trump’s tariffs since “Liberation Day.” On April 2, 2025, he called the blanket tariffs “a tax on working families” and urged Americans to call on Trump to end them before they sent the country into a recession.
He later held a three-stop “Trump Tariff Tour” across Illinois and warned that the proposed tariffs could cost the average Illinois household at least $4,400 a year, with 44 percent of small businesses bracing for revenue losses.
He also introduced a House resolution with Reps. Deborah Ross and Marc Veasey to terminate the national emergency Trump invoked under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose tariffs of up to 50 percent on Indian goods. The sponsors called the tariffs illegal. The move followed a bipartisan, Senate-passed measure aimed at ending Trump-era tariffs on Brazil.
Krishnamoorthi on the Iran war
On Feb. 28, 2026, the day of the strikes, he called the action an unauthorized war and said he would vote for the War Powers Resolution. On March 5 he voted for the bipartisan War Powers Resolution introduced by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, which would require an end to unauthorized U.S. military action against Iran. He voted against a separate Iran resolution by Rep. Brian Mast, which he warned could be used to politically justify the conflict.
In early May he wrote to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. He asked for a classified briefing by May 15 on the status of hostilities, after Trump informed Congress that the war had been “terminated” while the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports continued. He wrote that the administration appeared to be trying to claim compliance with the War Powers Resolution of 1973.
The administration’s position is that hostilities ended after a ceasefire that has held since early April. The House has since voted a third time to end the war, approving a war powers resolution that would halt Trump’s ability to continue military action without congressional approval. Krishnamoorthi has called the war a colossal disaster in a radio interview.