First of March President of the United States of America Donald Trump signed an executive order designating English as the official language of the US. The text of the document was distributed on Saturday by the White House press service.
“From the founding of our Republic, English has been used as our national language,” the order reads. “It is therefore long past time that English is declared as the official language of the United States.”
Trump’s order marks the first time in history the country has had an official language, though the majority of U.S. states have already designated English as their official language.
The order allows government agencies and organizations that receive federal funding to choose whether to continue to offer documents and services in a language other than English.
According to the US Bureau, more than 78% of Americans use only English language in daily life. However, millions of American citizens and people who have moved to the country also speak other languages, such as Vietnamese, Spanish, and Chinese. For example, Spanish is the first language for about 13% of the country’s population.
