Trump to sign historic order making English the official U.S. language

President Donald Trump is preparing to sign an order that will make English the official language of the United States, reported the Wall Street Journal, marking a historic change for a country that has never had a national language in its nearly 250-year history.

The executive order would end a rule created by former President Bill Clinton that required government agencies to provide language help to people who don't speak English, claims White House officials who spoke with the Journal. While agencies can still offer documents and services in other languages, the Wall Street Journal explains that the White House claims this change aims to promote unity, create government efficiency, and help with civic engagement. Trump has long made immigration control a key part of his presidency and has promised the largest mass deportation in American history, the Journal notes.

This executive order is just the latest in a series of nationalist actions, according toThe Guardian, including one that renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America in official documents ofGovInfo and changed Denali back to Mount McKinley, which replaced a Native American name with a former president's name. 

Despite President Trump and Republicans spending millions during the 2024 campaign to reach Latin American and Spanish-speaking voters, the administration removed the Spanish-language version of the White House website shortly after taking office, The Guardian points out. 

During a 2015 presidential debate, Trump criticized former Florida Governor Jeb Bush for speaking Spanish while campaigning, saying this is a country where we speak English, not Spanish.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who speaks both English and Spanish, recently conducted some official diplomatic business with Latin American leaders in Spanish during a trip to the region, according to information provided by The Guardian. 

While the federal government has never recognized an official language until now, about 30 states have already passed laws making English their official language, with some states like Mississippi and New Hampshire requiring their public schools to teach only in English, The Guardian reports. Vice President JD Vance had previously introduced the English Language Unity Act when he was a senator from Ohio, which called for the federal government to conduct all official business in English and create a language-testing standard for citizenship.