“South Park” is changing its name in what is the latest satirical jab at the White House, following U.S. President Donald Trump’s spree to rename a gulf, lakes and, most recently, even a state after “America.” “Inspired by the bravery and patriotism of Apple and Google, we are changing the name of South Park to SOUTH AMERICA,” co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone said Tuesday. “We especially want to thank our parent company Paramount – a Skydance Capitulation.” The rebrand landed a day after Trump appeared to suggest renaming New Mexico as “New America,” posting a flurry of photos of the state with the new name, days after he signed an executive order to change Lake Ontario to “Lake America.” While the president can rename geographic landmarks, such as bodies of water, he has no power to rename a state. New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham swiftly denounced the posts as an effort to distract from the war in Iran and rising prices. In January 2025, on his first day back in office, Trump also signed an executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America,” a change listed in the Geographic Names Information System and was shortly adopted afterwards for U.S.-based users of Google and Apple maps. Google said at the time that it updates place names when official government sources change. It said U.S. users of Google Maps would see “Lake America,” while Canadian users would still see “Lake Ontario,” citing its practice of reflecting official government name changes. Apple later applied the same label for US users of Apple Maps, matching Google’s change, the Associated Press reported. South Park has frequently poked fun at the president and his administration, mocking policy decisions since he took office in 2017 and depicting the Trump character as a sensitive bully who threatens to tariff or sue anyone who crosses him. South Park, which follows four foul-mouthed grade-schoolers in a fictional Colorado mountain town, debuted on Comedy Central on Aug. 13, 1997. The series has won the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program five times and has 21 nominations, according to the Television Academy. After its most recent Emmy win, just days ago, the official “South Park” X account shared an image of Trump with his pants around his ankles, holding an Emmy award in the air. “Congratulations to Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and the entire South Park team on their Emmy win for Outstanding Animated Program!” the post said. The new season debuts on Sept. 16 on Comedy Central and Next Day on Paramount+ in the U.S., Canada and Australia. CNN has reached out to Paramount and the White House for comment. The rebrand comes as Paramount tries to merge its movie studio and television operations with WBD, the parent of CNN, HBO, Discovery, the Warner Bros. studio and many other assets.
