Trump makes English America’s official language, requires changes

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President Trump took executive action Saturday to establish English as America’s official language, marking a significant shift in federal policy regarding language requirements.

The executive order effectively terminates Clinton-era guidelines from 2000 that mandated federal agencies provide language assistance services to individuals with limited English proficiency. Despite this change, the order specifies that agencies aren’t explicitly required to modify their existing services.

The decision to implement any policy changes now rests with the heads of individual agencies. While English has historically served as the de facto language of American governance, appearing in foundational documents throughout U.S. history, it had never been officially designated as such until now.

🚨Just announced: President Trump to sign an executive order today that would for the first time make English the official language of the USA. pic.twitter.com/PU5bNhpsbF

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— Eddie (@Eddies_X) February 28, 2025

In the executive order, Trump emphasized the importance of a common language, stating “A nationally designated language is at the core of a unified and cohesive society, and the United States is strengthened by a citizenry that can freely exchange ideas in one shared language.”

This move puts the United States in alignment with international norms, as the vast majority of nations – approximately 180 out of 195 – have designated official languages.

The issue of English as an official language has been a recurring theme in Trump’s political discourse, particularly during his criticism of Biden’s immigration policies in 2024. During a CPAC speech that year, Trump expressed concern about the influx of unfamiliar languages, stating “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.”

President Trump has signed an Executive Order making English the official language of the United States.

This makes a lot of sense – English is widely renowned as the official language of business. pic.twitter.com/mq2MHRIitc

— James Harvey (@JamesHarvey2503) March 2, 2025

According to the order, the policy aims to foster national unity, develop a shared cultural identity, streamline government operations, and enhance civic participation.

Notably, First Lady Melania Trump herself is multilingual, speaking English, French, Italian, German, and Slovene.

This marks Trump’s 76th executive order since returning to office in January, following other notable actions such as changing the Gulf of Mexico’s name to the Gulf of America and reverting Mount Denali to its previous name, Mount McKinley.