Reuters
A sign in Spanish that says "Entrance" is seen at a field in front of the border fence at the United States-Mexico border outside of Brownsville, Texas [Source: Reuters]
President Donald Trump will sign an executive order to make English the official U.S. language, a White House official said on Friday, for the first time in the country’s history.
The official did not provide a timing for the signing of the order, first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
The United States has never had an official language at the federal level but some U.S. states designate it as their official language.
The Republican president has made opposition to illegal immigration a hallmark of both his White House runs and has embraced using English in public life.
During his first presidential campaign, Trump chided Republican rival Jeb Bush for speaking another language on the campaign trail. He told a news conference in New York in 2015 that “We’re a nation that speaks English.”
Trump’s executive order would rescind Democratic President Bill Clinton’s federal requirement that agencies and other recipients of federal funds provide language assistance to non-English speakers, the Wall Street Journal said.
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