Donald Trump has declared English as the official language of the United States.
On Saturday, March 1, the president signed his latest executive order, naming English as the national language. It marks a first in the nearly 250-year history of the U.S. — a country where residents speak more than 350 languages.
The executive order begins: “From the founding of our Republic, English has been used as our national language. Our Nation’s historic governing documents, including the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, have all been written in English. It is therefore long past time that English is declared as the official language of the United States.”
“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,” the order continues.
Trump goes on to note that a policy of encouraging new Americans to learn and adopt the national language will “make the United States a shared home.”
The order also states: “To promote unity, cultivate a shared American culture for all citizens, ensure consistency in government operations, and create a pathway to civic engagement, it is in America’s best interest for the Federal Government to designate one — and only one — official language.”
While multiple states have designated English as their own official language, the nation itself has never done so. Republicans have previously tried to declare English as the official language of the U.S. in Congress but have been repeatedly unsuccessful, with attempts as recently as 2023.
Trump’s latest executive order rescinds a 2000 federal mandate from President Bill Clinton that required the government and agencies that receive federal funding to offer language assistance to non-English speakers.
Trump — whose administration previously removed the Spanish-language version of the White House website, per The Associated Press — spoke negatively about the practicing of multiple languages in the U.S. during last year’s Conservative Political Action Conference.
“We have languages coming into our country. We don’t have one instructor in our entire nation that can speak that language,” Trump said, per The Independent. “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.”
Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House on Feb. 26, 2025.
Andrew Harnik/Getty
The latest declaration from Trump marks, according to The Washington Post, just one of more than 70 executive orders in the first few weeks of his presidency.
He kicked off his second stint in the White House on Jan. 20 with a string of day-one presidential actions that — among other things — pardoned Jan. 6 rioters, withdrew the U.S. from the World Health Organization and attempted to put an end to birthright citizenship.
Trump’s official language announcement comes only days after he revealed a new immigration plan, which he claimed would see the U.S. selling $5 million “gold cards” as an alternative to green cards, allowing “high-level” foreigners to enter the U.S.
The “gold cards,” according to Trump who announced them on Feb. 25, would offer a path to permanent citizenship and would give “wealthy people” the opportunity to purchase the right to live and work in the U.S.
At the time, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnicksaid those looking to acquire a card — which Trump said was expected to go on sale two weeks from his announcement — would “have to go through vetting.” The program would replace the government’s current EB-5 immigrant investor visa program.
When asked if he’d sell the cards to Russian oligarchs, Trump replied, “Yeah, possibly. I know some Russian oligarchs that are very nice people.”
