As one of the most powerful people in the world, President Donald Trump has much more than just a finger on the nuclear button (or one to order Diet Coke). Ever since stepping back into the Oval Office on January 20, the President of the United States has been signing hundreds of executive orders doing everything from banning trans athletes from women's sports to implementing tariffs on China, creating a migrant detention center at Guantánamo Bay and removing barriers against AI innovation.
Some of his more outlandish ones include plans to create an 'Iron Dome' over America and renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
In Trump's latest swing of power, he's expected to sign an executive order that will make 'English' the official language of the USA for the first time since it was founded in 1776.
As reported by the Wall Street Journal, the White House has defended the decision. Stating that while 'hundreds' of languages are spoken across the USA, English is the most common. The White House adds that establishing English as the official language will 'unify' the country and its citizens: "Establishing English as the official language promotes unity, establishes efficiency in government operations, and creates a pathway for civic engagement."
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The executive order will remove a mandate from the Clinton administration that required all agencies and those who receive federal funding to provide language assistance to non-English speakers. A White House fact sheet reiterates that agencies will now be able to decide when and how to offer non-English languages.
Even though agencies will be able to provide documents in other languages, the new order encourages non-English language speakers to learn the USA's 'official' language.
There are currently over 350 languages spoken in the country.
It comes after Trump spoke about non-English speaking communities on the campaign trail and said migrants were being 'dropped' into areas like Springfield, Ohio. He also shared concerns that migrant students weren't able to communicate in schools: "We have languages coming into our country. We don’t have one instructor in our entire nation that can speak that language.
"These are languages—it’s the craziest thing—they have languages that nobody in this country has ever heard of. It’s a very horrible thing.”
Although the Republican Party is said to have spent millions reaching out to those who speak Spanish ahead of the 2024 election, the POTUS pulled down the Spanish-language alternative of the White House website shortly after stepping back into the White House.
The @LaCasaBlanca (White House) X account has since gone dark.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, over 78% of Americans speak only English at home. Still, there are millions who speak other languages as their first choice. A 2019 Census report reported that the number of those who speak a language other than English while at home had nearly tripled between 1980 and 2019. There are further worries that the executive order will bulldoze the dozens of Native American languages that are also used in the USA.
Although it's not clear when Trump will sign the executive order, more than 30 states have passed legislation that will cement the English language as the USA's' official' one. Those who are applying for naturalization will have to prove they can read, write, and speak English.