Trump urged to declare 'American' the official US language ahead of 250th anniversary
· Fox News
As America’s 250th birthday approaches, President Donald Trump is being encouraged to change the name of the nation’s language.
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Writer Rob Lockwood, a former advisor to Doug Burgum, joined "Fox & Friends" Saturday to discuss his Washington Post op-ed calling for the U.S. to adopt its own language.
"Enough with English. Enough with American English. Let’s call it what it is: American," Lockwood said.
He said Trump has the ability to move the U.S. away from the King’s English, arguing that while the U.S. broke from Britain two and a half centuries ago, its language remains tied to the past. Lockwood called the name a "relic of the regime" and said anniversary events are temporary compared to this kind of lasting change.
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"If there ever was a time to take a stand for America and for speaking American, the 250th anniversary of freedom is it," Lockwood said.
He said America has developed its own version of the language and called it a "dominant evolution" that should be formally recognized.
Lockwood argued that changing the name of the national language is not a new idea, and said that figures like Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Noah Webster, the godfather of Webster’s Dictionary, had discussed the concept.
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The president hasn’t shied away from making changes to the country’s language during his second term. In March 2025, he signed an executive order designating English as the official language of the United States.
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"Our Nation’s historic governing documents, including the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, have all been written in English," the White House wrote. "It is therefore long past time that English is declared as the official language of the United States."
The administration said the change was meant to unify the country and followed other rebranding efforts, including the January 2025 renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America."
Lockwood said the change may seem small but could last for generations.
"Changing a language is permanent. It’s something that will be with us for the rest of our lives," he said.