The Associated Press, by FERNANDA FIGUEROA
The Spanish-language edition of the official White House website was removed by the new administration within hours of President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
The website https://www.whitehouse.gov/es/ displays a button that says “Go To Home Page” along with an error 404 message.
Hispanic advocacy organizations and others were perplexed by the sudden shift and irritated by what some claimed was the administration’s failure to keep in touch with the Latino population, which aided in his ascent to the presidency.
Pictured: Tuesday, November 26, 2019, in Sunrise, Florida, Latina supporters don big “Make America Great Again” caps prior to President Donald Trump’s rally. (File: Brynn Anderson/AP Photo)AP
The government page on reproductive freedom and the White House’s X Spanish profile, @LaCasaBlanca, were also shut down. On Tuesday, users could still access the Spanish versions of other government departments, including the Department of Agriculture, Justice, and Labor.
In response to a question over the modifications, White House senior deputy press secretary Harrison Fields stated on Tuesday that the administration is dedicated to restoring the website’s Spanish translation section.
Day two has arrived. The White House website is currently being developed, edited, and adjusted. A portion of the website’s archived content was put on hold as part of this continuing project. Without providing further details, he stated, “We are dedicated to reloading that content in a short timeline.”
In 2017, Trump took down the page in Spanish. White House officials at the time promised to bring it back. In 2021, President Joe Biden restored the page.
About 43.4 million Americans, or 13.7% of the country’s population aged 5 and over, speak Spanish at home, according to Census Bureau estimates from 2023. American English is not an official language.