Trump administration shuts down White House Spanish-language page and social media

By FERNANDA FIGUEROA, Associated Press

Within hours of President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the caller medication took down the Spanish-language mentation of the authoritative White House website.

The tract — presently https://www.whitehouse.gov/es/ — present gives users an “Error 404” message. It besides included a “Go Home” fastener that directed viewers to a leafage featuring a video montage of Trump successful his archetypal word and connected the run trail. The fastener was aboriginal updated to work “Go To Home Page”.

Hispanic advocacy groups and others expressed disorder astatine the abrupt alteration and vexation astatine what immoderate called the administration’s deficiency of efforts to support connection with the Latino community, which helped propel him to the presidency.

FILE – Supports deterioration ample “Make America Great Again” hats earlier President Donald Trump’s rally connected Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2019, successful Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)

The Spanish illustration of the White House’ X, @LaCasaBlanca and the authorities leafage connected reproductive state besides were disbanded. Meanwhile, the Spanish versions of different authorities agencies specified arsenic the Department of Labor, Justice and Agriculture remained disposable for users connected Tuesday.

Asked astir the changes, White House main lawman property caput Harrison Fields responded Tuesday that the medication is “committed to bringing backmost online the Spanish translation conception of the website.”

“It’s time two. We are successful the process of developing, editing and tweaking the White House website. As portion of this ongoing work, immoderate of the archived contented connected the website went dormant. We are committed to reloading that contented successful a abbreviated timeline,” helium said without elaborating.

Trump removed the Spanish mentation of the leafage successful 2017. At that time, White House officials said they would reinstate it. President Joe Biden reinstated the leafage successful 2021.

The page’s removal coincided with Trump’s first-day question of enforcement orders highlighted by the motorboat of an amerciable migration crackdown that was 1 of his cardinal run pledges. Trump connected Monday declared a nationalist exigency astatine the U.S.-Mexico borderline and announced plans to nonstop U.S. troops to assistance enactment migration agents and restrict refugees and asylum.

According to 2023 Census Bureau estimates, astir 43.4 cardinal Americans — 13.7% of the U.S. colonisation property 5 and older — talk Spanish astatine home. The U.S. has nary authoritative language.

Monica Rivera, a marque and communications strategist successful New York City of Puerto Rican and Cuban descent, said the shutdown sends a wide signal.

“There are 43 cardinal Latinos who talk Spanish arsenic their archetypal connection and removing entree to accusation straight from the White House draws a chiseled enactment arsenic to who they are serving and much dangerously, signals to the administration’s MAGA basal that we arsenic Latinos are ‘other’ and a little important portion of this country,” Rivera said.

Anthony Hernandez, a paralegal successful the nation’s capital, wasn’t initially alert of the determination and said it suggests what the coming years of a 2nd Trump presidency would look like, with circumstantial issues making headlines portion “minor but arsenic malicious things similar that spell unnoticed.”

“A determination similar shutting down the Spanish White House leafage and X illustration serves nary intent different than to chopped disconnected resources for millions of Hispanic Americans and immigrants attempting to participate the United States legally,” Hernandez said. “And it’s a slap successful the look to the millions of Hispanic voters that supported him successful this caller election.”

Trump’s secretary of state, Marco Rubio, is Cuban American and speaks Spanish. At his swearing-in Tuesday, helium gave remarks successful Spanish, thanking God, his household and Trump.

Meanwhile, Hispanic leaders and connection strategy experts expressed astonishment with the page’s removal, fixed Trump’s popularity with definite Latino voters.

“If the White House is earnestly funny successful engaging with Latinos, the 2nd largest radical successful this country, past they request to marque definite that updates tin besides beryllium distributed successful Spanish, a preferred connection for millions successful our community,” said Frankie Miranda President and CEO of the Hispanic Federation.

He called that a mode to guarantee “everyone is simply a portion of the civic process.”

Kris Klein Hernández, a U.S. historiographer specializing successful race, gender, and sexuality astatine Connecticut College, said the contented removal from authoritative White House websites not lone limits the entree disposable to Spanish-speaking U.S. citizens and migrants but leads “some to question which constituencies the medication prioritizes.”

Jeff Lee, erstwhile lawman furniture caput and lawman manager of outer and planetary affairs for erstwhile California Gov. Jerry Brown, said the determination seems counterintuitive fixed the accidental to “showcase” argumentation changes, particularly ones related to economics and borderline security.

“I didn’t spot immoderate different connection mediums that got the kibosh. So I deliberation that’s a truly absorbing happening to azygous retired — if that’s the case,” Lee said.

AP VoteCast, a nationwide survey of much than 120,000 voters, recovered Trump won a larger share of Black and Latino voters than helium did successful 2020, and astir notably among men nether property 45. Young Latinos, peculiarly young Latino men, besides were much unfastened to Trump than successful 2020. Roughly fractional of young Latino men voted for Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, compared with astir 6 successful 10 who went for Biden.