South Park Changes Name to South America for Season 29 to Mock Trump

Following political pushes to rename geographic features after America, Comedy Central animated satire South Park announced it is officially changing its name to South America for its 29th season, pairing the stunt with pointed social media jabs at President Donald Trump.

South America and the Parody of Presidential Namings

The animated satirical program announced an official name change to South America for its upcoming 29th season. Creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker leaned directly into recent geopolitical posturing from Washington, where the administration made attempts to rename regional landmarks, including pushing to relabel the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America and attempting to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America amid trade tensions with Canada.

The comedic pivot also follows social media posts where the president used an artificial intelligence-generated video to suggest renaming New Mexico to New America by placing the word over Mexico on a welcome sign. Creators Parker and Stone acknowledged the inspiration with characteristic sarcasm in their official announcement.

That jab references Paramount Skydance, the media conglomerate led by David Ellison that stands to become one of the nation’s largest entertainment entities following the Trump administration’s approval of its $111bn merger with Warner Bros Discovery, a transaction that sparked considerable backlash across the creative industry.

Emmy Celebrations and Long-Standing Bad Blood

The satirical rebrand coincides with fresh awards recognition for the long-running series. South Park celebrated its Emmy win for outstanding animated program on Sept. 6, marking its first victory in the category since 2013. Following the win, the show’s official Instagram account published an image of its animated Trump character with his pants down while holding an Emmy trophy alongside the text, You finally got your Emmy.

The visual serves as a direct callback to years of public friction between the president and the television academy regarding his former NBC reality series, The Apprentice.

The Emmys are all politics, that’s why, despite nominations, ‘The Apprentice’ never won — even though it should have many times over.

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That frustration notably spilled over into the 2016 presidential election cycle. During the final presidential debate, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton pointed out that the candidate started tweeting that the Emmys were rigged after failing to win an award three years in a row.

Escalating Satire and Administration Pushback

The animated series spent its most recent two seasons heavily focused on lampooning the administration. Beginning in July 2025, the show introduced a central storyline framing the president as an over-the-top, thin-skinned villain romantically involved with Satan. The narrative also deployed parodies of key administration figures, including former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, FCC Chair Brendan Carr, and Vice President JD Vance.

The White House offered a sharp rebuttal to the satirical portrayal when it debuted in 2025, issuing a statement asserting that the program hasn’t been relevant for over 20 years and was hanging on by a thread.

Despite pushback from viewers and critics suggesting the creators ease up on political targets, Parker indicated during a May campaign event in Los Angeles that external pressure only fuels the writers room. We laid into him so hard, and the thing became: ‘Well, who’s the bully now?’ It became this just totally juvenile joke of like, ‘We’re not going to stop. We’re going to do it every single week,’ Parker said, noting that the team vowed to keep going, going, going.

Season 29 Premiere and What Comes Next

As South Park prepares for its Season 29 premiere on Sept. 16, questions remain regarding how heavily the episodes will continue to lean into White House satire. The unfolding friction between creative freedom under a newly merged media parent and aggressive political comedy sets up a volatile backdrop for the franchise’s return.