Trump administration shuts down White House Spanish-language page and social media, briefly adds ‘Go Home’ button

Hours after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the new administration removed the Spanish version of the official White House website.

The site – currently https://www.whitehouse.gov/es/ – now shows users a “404 Error” message. It also included a “Go Home” button that took viewers to a page featuring a video montage of Trump in his first term and during his election campaign. The button was then updated to read “Go to Home”.

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Hispanic advocacy groups and others have expressed confusion over the abrupt change and frustration over what some have called the administration’s lack of effort to maintain communication with the Latino community, which helped propel him to the presidency.

The Spanish profile of the White House X, @LaCasaBlanca and the government page on reproductive freedom were also removed. Meanwhile, Spanish versions of other government agencies such as the Ministry of Labor, Justice and Agriculture remained available to users on Tuesday.

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Asked about the changes, White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Harrison Fields responded Tuesday that the administration was “committed to bringing the Spanish translation section of the website back online.”

“It’s the second day. We are currently developing, editing and refining the White House website. As part of this ongoing work, some of the content archived on the website has become inactive. We are committed to reloading this content in a short time,” 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 Trump’s first wave of executive orders, highlighted by the launch of a crackdown on illegal immigration that was one of his main campaign promises. Trump declared a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border on Monday and announced plans to send U.S. troops to help support immigration agents and restrict refugees and asylum.

According to 2023 Census Bureau estimates, approximately 43.4 million Americans, or 13.7% of the U.S. population ages 5 and older, speak Spanish at home. The United States does not have an official language.

Monica Rivera, a brand and communications strategist in New York of Puerto Rican and Cuban descent, said the closure sends a clear signal.

“There are 43 million Latinos who speak Spanish as their native language and suppressing access to information directly from the White House draws a distinct line in who they serve and, more dangerously, signals to the MAGA base of the administration that we, as Latinos, are ‘other’ and a less important part of this country,” Rivera said.

Anthony Hernandez, a paralegal in the nation’s capital, was not initially aware of the decision and said it suggests what the coming years of a second Trump presidency would look like, with specific issues making headlines as “minor but equally malicious things like this happen.” unnoticed. »

“A measure such as shutting down the White House Spanish Page and Profile “United,” Hernandez said. “And it’s a slap in the face to the millions of Hispanic voters who supported him in these recent elections.”

Trump’s Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, is Cuban-American and speaks Spanish. During his swearing-in on Tuesday, he gave a speech in Spanish, thanking God, his family and Trump.

Meanwhile, Hispanic leaders and communications strategy experts expressed surprise at the page’s removal, given Trump’s popularity with some Latino voters.

“If the White House is serious about engaging with Latinos, the second largest group in this country, then it must ensure that updates can also be distributed in Spanish, a preferred language of millions in our community,” said President Frankie Miranda. and CEO of the Hispanic Federation.

He called it a way to ensure “everyone participates in the civic process.”

Kris Klein Hernández, a U.S. historian specializing in race, gender and sexuality at Connecticut College, said removing content from official White House websites not only limits the access available to U.S. citizens and Spanish-speaking migrants , but leads “some to wonder which constituencies are concerned”. the administration gives priority.

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 “showcase” policy changes, especially those related to the economy and border security.

“I haven’t seen any other language medium that has gotten the kibosh. So I think that’s a really interesting thing to point out – if that’s the case,” Lee said.

AP VoteCast, a national survey of more than 120,000 voters, found that Trump won a larger share of Black and Latino voters than in 2020, and especially among men under 45. Young Latinos, especially young Latino men, were also more open. to Trump than in 2020. About half of young Latino men voted for Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, compared to about 6 in 10 who went for Biden.