President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to make English the official language of the United States.
Trump signed the EO on Saturday. It revokes the "Improving Access Services for Persons with Limited English Proficiency" executive order issued by former President Bill Clinton in 2000 which required federal agencies and federal funding recipients to offer language assistance to non-English speakers.
Trump's executive order does not "require or direct" any change in services provided by any agency. Heads of agencies will determine if there will be any changes.
"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," Trump wrote.
Trump has been vocal about making English the country's official language.
"We have languages coming into our country. We don’t have one instructor in our entire nation that can speak that language," Trump said at the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2024. "These are languages-it’s the craziest thing-they have languages that nobody in this country has ever heard of."
There are only a handful of countries without an official language. About 180 of the 195 countries have one. The U.S. has never had an official language until now.