Trump Not Just Dominating Culture, He’s Also Shaping English Language

The (failing) New York Times (NYT) has arrived with more praise for President Donald Trump disguised as criticism. 

Trump “may have a greater impact on the English language than any president in the history of the United States, maybe ever,” linguist Adam Aleksic writes for The NYT’s opinion section. The “maybe ever” is a classic Trumpism. 

Other hits include, “Many such cases,” “Many people are saying,” “Big if true, “Open the schools,” and “Sad!” (RELATED: Liberals Strain Themselves Trying To Rip Page From Trump’s Playbook)

as usual the failing NYT missed several gems https://t.co/kb2zyedgNR pic.twitter.com/KDbLaAedOZ

— jack (@jack24dd30) August 18, 2025

Aleksic warns, “the ubiquity of Mr. Trump’s speech can play a role in normalizing his policies … The fact that we’re talking like Donald Trump could mean that we’re starting to think like him as well.” 

Big, if true. Democrats have yet to find an effective line of attack in countering Trump’s cultural reconquista. Popular opinion has turned against Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies, gender ideology, and illegal migration. Popular sentiment has turned indifferent towards the sort of language which once resulted in “cancellation.” 

Over half of American adults reported they’d held their tongues for fear of “retaliation” or “harsh criticism,” according to a 2022 New York Times/Siena College Research Institute poll. Only thirty four percent of those polled believed all Americans completely enjoy freedom of speech.

If Trumpisms offer some remedy for self-censorship, so much the better.

Trump’s speech is peppered with phrases easily appended to other contexts. It’s not so much that he’s generating trends, in the sense of those altered images of Vice President J.D. Vance which flooded X in March, but that he’s generating enduring linguistic memes.

Trump’s coinages survive because they’re simple, but unexpected. They’re direct and distinctive. They’re highly adaptable. The same is true of William Shakespeare. “Come what may” or “Break the ice” or “In a pickle” are too good not to use. 

Trump’s speech is so seductive, even Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom can’t help but partake. Newsom’s press office, likely at the helm of digital director Camille Zapata, has begun mimicking Trump’s Truth Social posts. 

DONALD (TINY HANDS), HAS WRITTEN HIS AUTOBIOGRAPHY THIS MORNING — UNFORTUNATELY (LOW IQ) HE SPELLED IT WRONG — “BETA.” SOON YOU WILL BE A “FIRED” BETA BECAUSE OF MY PERFECT, “BEAUTIFUL MAPS.” THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER! — GCN pic.twitter.com/KF44tc4ra2

— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) August 17, 2025

You lived through the “Kamala so brat” psyop but are you prepared for the “Newsome is based” apocalypse? https://t.co/p67cWiW1rT

— Auron MacIntyre (@AuronMacintyre) August 18, 2025

The X posts are usually all caps. They feature a sign off (“—GCN”), plenty of exclamation marks, and other Trump signatures. 

The medium is the message. If “winning” entails becoming your opponent, it’s a pretty hollow victory. (RELATED: Closeted Conservatives, Come On Out, The Water’s Warm!)

Leftists have had a chokehold on “the culture” for the past sixty or so years. Sixty years is a second to posterity. Moreover, liberal cultural hegemony has churned out less memorable propaganda with every passing year. An opera about pregnant drone pilots. Another retelling of classic literature, but gay.

Trump’s ideas “begin as ridiculous and are easily parodied on the internet — at this point, they’re already affecting our head space. When those parodies become a subconscious part of language, their overt power is diluted but the underlying idea remains there, continuing to subtly represent his presence,” Aleksic concludes.

If that’s the case, let Newsom carry on. 

Follow Natalie Sandoval on X: @NatSandovalDC