Donald Trump plans to sign executive order making English the official language of the U.S.

President Trump intends to sign an executive order proclaiming English the official language of the United States, according to various White House officials.

It is the first time in history that the country will have an official language, despite the majority of U.S. states have already recognized English as the official language. It's unclear when Trump will sign the order.

People who go through the naturalization process to become US citizens must also take an English test in which they "must demonstrate an understanding of the English language, including the ability to read, write, and speak basic English," according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The presidential order repeals a Clinton-era regulation for agencies and beneficiaries of government funds to provide comprehensive language help to non-English speakers. According to a White House information sheet, the new directive will provide agencies more freedom in deciding how and when to offer services in languages other than English.

The White House is justifying the measure, claiming that, while hundreds of languages are spoken in the United States, English is the most often spoken. Furthermore, the White House believes that adopting a national language unifies the country and its people.

The Trump administration says its goal is to "promote unity, establish efficiency in the government, and provide a pathway to civic engagement."

According to Census Bureau data, people in the United States converse in over 350 languages, with Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and Arabic being among the most widely spoken languages other than English.

During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump decried undocumented immigrants who did not speak English and warned about the languages "coming into our country."

In remarks at the March 2024 Conservative Political Action Conference, Trump said, “We have languages coming into our country. We don’t have one instructor in our entire nation that can speak that language ... 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."

According to a 2019 Census Bureau estimate, the number of people in the United States who spoke a language other than English at home than tripled between 1980 and 2019, rising from 23.1 million (about one in 10) to 67.8 million (about one in five).  The survey also indicated that the number of English speakers climbed from 187.2 million in 1980 to 241 million by 2019.