On March 1, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order officially designating English as the United States’ official language, aiming to enhance unity in a nation with a diverse immigrant population.
The White House announced that recognizing a nationwide language is fundamental to a unified society, and America will be strengthened when its people can freely exchange ideas in a common tongue.
Previously, the U.S. had no official language, although English was the most widely used and was designated as the official language in some states. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, besides English, the most commonly spoken languages include Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and Arabic.
With President Trump’s executive order, federal agencies are no longer mandated to provide language assistance and translation services for non-English speakers. This decision modifies a directive from the 1990s under former President Bill Clinton, which required federal agencies to offer materials and services in languages other than English. Now, U.S. government agencies have the flexibility to determine the extent of support for other languages.
The White House acknowledges that over 350 languages are used in the U.S., and the executive order emphasizes that English has been the national language since the founding of the Republic, noting that historical documents like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were written in English. Government data indicates that nearly 68 million people speak a language other than English at home, with over 40 million speaking Spanish. The U.S. also has numerous languages from immigrant and indigenous communities.
