President Donald Trump has officially declared English as the United States’ national language, aiming to promote unity in a country with a diverse population.
Through an executive order released Saturday, Trump said it is “long past time” to formally recognize English as the country’s official language, emphasizing its role in bringing cohesion to the nation.
The order also overturns a policy from the 1990s under former President Bill Clinton that required federal agencies to provide language support for non-English speakers. However, agencies will still have discretion on whether to offer services in other languages based on their responsibilities.
“This order doesn’t demand changes to current services, but leaves it up to agency leaders to decide what is necessary to efficiently serve the public,” the order stated.
While over 350 languages are spoken across the U.S., the White House noted that English has historically been the primary language, with founding documents like the Constitution and Declaration of Independence written in English.
Government data from 2019 shows nearly 68 million residents speak a language other than English at home, with Spanish being the second most spoken language.
