Donald Trump is on track to make history by signing an executive order that would designate English as the official language of the United States, according to multiple White House sources.
While English is already the most widely spoken language in the country, the U.S. has never formally declared an official language at the federal level in its nearly 250-year history.
However, every major national document, including the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, has been written in English.
During his campaign last year, Trump criticized the increasing presence of other languages in the U.S., stating at the Conservative Political Action Conference:
“We have languages coming into our country.
“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.”
Trump is set to sign the executive order, which would overturn a directive issued by former President Bill Clinton in 2000 that required federal agencies and recipients of federal funding to provide language assistance for non-English speakers, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.
“Establishing English as the official language promotes unity, establishes efficiency in government operations, and creates a pathway for civic engagement,” the White House outlined in a fact sheet shared with ABC News.
Since his official inauguration on January 20—just over a month ago—the 78-year-old Republican leader has signed at least 70 executive orders.
Some of these orders include renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, banning gender transitions for individuals under 19, and ending birthright citizenship.
Trump’s ‘unprecedented’ second state visit to the UK
Earlier this week, on February 27, Trump met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to discuss his upcoming second state visit to the United Kingdom, which has been described as “unprecedented.”
During their meeting—compared by some to a scene from the 2003 rom-com Love Actually—Starmer presented Trump with a letter from King Charles III. The message conveyed a special request, with Starmer telling him:
“This is really special. This has never happened before. This is unprecedented.
“This is truly historic.”
The letter officially invited Trump to the UK for a second state visit, following his first visit in 2019, when the late Queen Elizabeth II hosted him.
“That’s a great, great honour. And that says at Windsor – that’s really something,” Trump said as he accepted the King’s invitation, making him the only elected political leader in modern times to receive two state visit invitations from a British monarch.
Clearly flattered by the King’s invitation, Trump also took a moment to share some kind words about Charles:
“He’s a beautiful man, a wonderful man – I’ve gotten to know him very well, actually, first term and now second term.
“We’ve known each other now for a little while. This is not our first meeting. He loves his country. And so, that’s our common theme. He loves his country. And I love our country.”
Trump added:
“And we also have two countries that have gotten along for the longest period of time. Number one ally on each side. We have France, Australia, a lot of good ones, but we’ve had a long-time relationship, a long time, hundreds of years.”
