Trump expected to declare English the U.S. national language

President Donald Trump on Friday was expected to sign an executive order establishing English as the United States’ national language, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing White House officials. The United States has never officially designated a national language since its founding nearly 250 years ago.

Some maintain that America’s reputation as a nation of immigrants means there should be no formal native language. Others insist that English should be the U.S. tongue because all of America's original founding documents were written in English. Census records report over 350 languages spoken in the United States, but English is still most widely used, according to the government. Data collected by the American Community Survey between 2018 and 2022 showed that nearly 80% of citizens of ages 5 and older spoke only English at home.

Since most people speak English, what would the order really change? The order would override a Clinton-era rule that agencies receiving federal funding must offer language assistance to non-English speakers. Under Trump’s order, the government could no longer compel federally funded organizations to offer translation versions of materials to non-English speakers. While the order would not require people to learn English, it would remove the accommodations that allow non-English speakers to still function in a largely English-speaking country.