President Donald Trump planned to sign an executive order Friday making English the official language of the United States.
Trump’s actions will give government agencies and organizations that receive federal funding the option to only offer instructions in English, according to the White House. The order would reverse a 2000 mandate signed by President Clinton requiring such organizations to make services accessible to people not proficient in English.
The White House took down the Spanish language version of its website when Trump took office in 2017. It was brought back after President Biden was inaugurated in 2021, but taken down again in January.
Amid many expressing frustration at the change, the White House said it was committed to restoring the Spanish version of the site. However, it was unclear on Friday if Trump still intended to follow through with that plan.
Among those flummoxed by the the decision to take down the Spanish site was Spain’s King Felipe VI, who called the move “striking,” according to The Olive Press.
Citing U.S. Census Bureau statistics, King Felipe said the number of Americans speaking Spanish will reach 100 million by 2050. He hoped the Trump Administration’s removal of the site was only temporary.
More than 350 languages are spoken in the U.S., according to Census Bureau data. English, Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese and Arabic are among the most widely used.
ProEnglish.org, an organization that advocates for English as a national language, says 32 states already have such a mandate in place.
The White House said that declaring a national language “promotes unity, establishes efficiency in government operations, and creates a pathway for civic engagement.”
Trump has used executive orders to push his “America First” agenda on multiple occasions since beginning his second term last month.
On Jan. 20, his first day in office, the 47th president declared the Gulf of Mexico would be known as the Gulf of America, despite 400 years of history. Weeks later, Trump recognized Feb. 9 as “Gulf of America Day.”
He’s also angered Canadians by suggesting America’s neighbor to the north would be better off as a U.S. state and referring to its prime minister as a “governor.”