On Monday, Mexico's President, Claudia Sheinbaum, issued a strong message on her official X account in response to Donald Trump's post on Truth Social. Trump had shared an image of North America and the Caribbean with the American flag draped over Mexico, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, and several Caribbean islands, including Cuba.
Sheinbaum's Defiant Message
Taking advantage of Mexico's Independence Month, Sheinbaum's post quickly garnered over a million views:
“In this patriotic month, we reaffirm that Mexico is neither a colony nor a protectorate of any foreign nation. We are proudly a free, independent, and sovereign country.”
The post received 40,327 likes and generated over 2,500 comments. The White House did not respond to the message.
This sentiment is not new. In May 2026, when the U.S. Department of Justice requested an extradition, Sheinbaum had already stated, “We are not a U.S. protectorate or colony... we engage as equals.” On Saturday, during an event in Monterrey, she reiterated her administration's stance: “Cooperation always, subordination never.”
The Controversial Map
On Sunday night, Trump shared a map on Truth Social without any accompanying text or explanation. The map depicted the area from Mexico to Canada covered with red and white stripes, and a blue field with more stars than the actual U.S. flag in the northern region. Both the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of California were labeled as "Gulf of America."
According to a report by Infobae, this was posted hours after Trump suggested renaming the state of New Mexico to "New America," with "Mexico" crossed out in red in a White House-released image. However, Trump lacks the constitutional authority to rename a state by decree.
The map also included Cuba among the territories cloaked by the U.S. flag, echoing previous statements by Trump. In May 2026, he claimed that the U.S. could “take Cuba almost immediately,” and in July, he asserted that the island “is coming towards us.” On August 1, he had already shared a map of Venezuela covered with the U.S. flag, labeling it as the "51st State."
Escalating Provocations
This incident marks the latest in a series of provocations spanning nearly two years. On Friday, September 4, Trump remarked from the Oval Office:
“If we stopped trading with them, we wouldn’t lose anything. Just one signature would suffice. We lose $195 billion a year with Mexico. They don’t have anything we really need. I mean, they have spicy tamales, tomatoes, a couple of things... but, basically, nothing we need.”
Nonetheless, he added from the Oval Office: “I don’t want to do that because we have a great relationship with the president. We like the president, we respect her a lot.”
The trend of renaming has extended beyond Mexico. In August 2026, Trump signed an executive order to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America,” a move rejected by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney: “[Lake Ontario] is called Lake Ontario and will remain so today and forever.”
Firm Rhetoric, Pragmatic Cooperation
Despite the harsh public exchange, Sheinbaum has maintained what analysts describe as a “cool-headed” strategy: between February 2025 and January 2026, her administration extradited 92 Mexican drug traffickers to the U.S. as part of bilateral security cooperation.
In January 2025, just hours after Trump took office, he announced a 25% tariff on Mexico. Following a phone call, Sheinbaum managed to delay the measure for 30 days in exchange for deploying 10,000 National Guard members to the northern border.
Monday’s response, deliberately framed within Mexico’s Independence Month — centered on September 16 — momentarily concludes the exchange with the same phrase Sheinbaum has consistently used since the start of Trump’s second term: “Mexico is no one’s colony, no one’s protectorate.”
Understanding the Tensions Between the U.S. and Mexico
What was the content of Claudia Sheinbaum's response to Trump's map?
Claudia Sheinbaum reaffirmed Mexico's independence and sovereignty, stating that the country is neither a colony nor a protectorate of any foreign nation.
How did the public react to Sheinbaum's post?
Sheinbaum's post received significant attention, with over a million views, 40,327 likes, and more than 2,500 comments.
What was Trump's suggestion regarding New Mexico?
Trump suggested renaming the state of New Mexico to "New America," with "Mexico" crossed out in red in an image shared by the White House.