Within hours of President Donald 罢谤耻尘辫鈥檚 inauguration, the new administration took down the Spanish-language version of the official White House website.
The site 鈥� currently 鈥� now gives users an 鈥淓rror 404鈥� message. It also included a 鈥淕o Home鈥� button that directed viewers to a page featuring a video montage of Trump in his first term and on the campaign trail. The button was later updated to read 鈥淕o To Home Page鈥�.
Hispanic advocacy groups and others expressed confusion at the abrupt change and frustration at what some called the administration鈥檚 lack of efforts to maintain communication with the Latino community, which helped propel him to the presidency.
The Spanish profile of the White House鈥� X, @LaCasaBlanca and the government page on reproductive freedom also were disbanded. Meanwhile, the Spanish versions of other government agencies such as the Department of Labor, Justice and Agriculture remained available for users on Tuesday.
Asked about the changes, White House principal deputy press secretary Harrison Fields responded Tuesday that the administration is 鈥渃ommitted to bringing back online the Spanish translation section of the website.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 day two. We are in the process of developing, editing and tweaking the White House website. As part of this ongoing work, some of the archived content on the website went dormant. We are committed to reloading that content in a short timeline," he said without elaborating.
Trump removed the Spanish version of the page in 2017. At that time, White House officials said they would reinstate it. President Joe Biden reinstated the page in 2021.
The page's removal coincided with 罢谤耻尘辫鈥檚 highlighted by the launch of an illegal immigration crackdown that was one of his key campaign pledges. Trump on Monday declared a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border and announced plans to send U.S. troops to help support immigration agents and restrict refugees and asylum.
According to 2023 Census Bureau estimates, about 43.4 million Americans 鈥� 13.7% of the U.S. population age 5 and older 鈥� speak Spanish at home. The U.S. has no official language.
Monica Rivera, a brand and communications strategist in New York City of Puerto Rican and Cuban descent, said the shutdown sends a clear signal.
鈥淭here are 43 million Latinos who speak Spanish as their first language and removing access to information directly from the White House draws a distinct line as to who they are serving and more dangerously, signals to the administration鈥檚 MAGA base that we as Latinos are 鈥榦ther鈥� and a less significant part of this country," Rivera said.
Anthony Hernandez, a paralegal in the nation's capital, wasn鈥檛 initially aware of the move and said it suggests what the coming years of a second Trump presidency would look like, with specific issues making headlines while 鈥渕inor but equally malicious things like that go unnoticed.鈥�
鈥淎 move like shutting down the Spanish White House page and X profile serves no purpose other than to cut off resources for millions of Hispanic Americans and immigrants attempting to enter the United States legally," Hernandez said. "And it鈥檚 a slap in the face to the millions of Hispanic voters that supported him in this recent election.鈥�
罢谤耻尘辫鈥檚 , is Cuban American and speaks Spanish. At his swearing-in Tuesday, he gave remarks in Spanish, thanking God, his family and Trump.
Meanwhile, Hispanic leaders and communication strategy experts expressed surprise with the page's removal, given 罢谤耻尘辫鈥檚 popularity with certain Latino voters.
鈥淚f the White House is seriously interested in engaging with Latinos, the second largest group in this country, then they need to make sure that updates can also be distributed in Spanish, a preferred language for millions in our community,鈥� said Frankie Miranda President and CEO of the Hispanic Federation.
He called that a way to ensure "everyone is a part of the civic process.鈥�
Kris Klein Hern谩ndez, a U.S. historian specializing in race, gender, and sexuality at Connecticut College, said the content removal from official White House websites not only limits the access available to Spanish-speaking U.S. citizens and migrants but leads "some to question which constituencies the administration prioritizes.鈥�
Jeff Lee, former deputy cabinet secretary and deputy director of external and international affairs for former California Gov. Jerry Brown, said the move seems counterintuitive given the opportunity to 鈥渟howcase鈥� policy changes, especially ones related to economics and border security.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 see any other language mediums that got the kibosh. So I think that鈥檚 a really interesting thing to single out 鈥� if that鈥檚 the case," Lee said.
AP VoteCast, a nationwide survey of more than 120,000 voters, found Trump of Black and Latino voters than he did in 2020, and most notably among men under age 45. Young Latinos, particularly young Latino men, also were more open to Trump than in 2020. Roughly half of young Latino men voted for Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, compared with about 6 in 10 who went for Biden.
Fernanda Figueroa (), The Associated Press
