White House's Spanish-language page removed

Shortly after President Donald Trump's inauguration, the Spanish-language version of the official White House website was taken down, leaving visitors with an “Error 404” message.

The now-inaccessible site, found at https://www.whitehouse.gov/es/, had included a “Go Home” button that initially led to a video montage of Trump during his first term and the campaign trail, but this was later changed to say “Go To Home Page.”

Screencap from the White House's Spanish page

The abrupt removal of the Spanish page drew criticism and confusion from Hispanic advocacy groups, who expressed concerns over the administration’s commitment to maintaining communication with the Latino community, a demographic that played a significant role in Trump’s election victory.

Additionally, the Spanish versions of the White House’s X account, @LaCasaBlanca, and government pages on reproductive rights were also discontinued. In contrast, Spanish resources for various other federal agencies, including the Departments of Labor, Justice, and Agriculture, remained accessible.

In response to inquiries about the changes, White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Harrison Fields assured reporters that the administration is “committed to bringing back online the Spanish translation section of the website.”

He explained, “It’s 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.”

This is not the first time the Spanish version of the White House website has been removed. It was previously taken down in 2017, with officials promising to restore it later. Former President Joe Biden reinstated it in 2021.

The removal coincided with a flurry of executive orders from Trump, including measures aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration, a key aspect of his campaign. Trump declared a national emergency at the US-Mexico border, outlining plans to send US troops to assist immigration agents while limiting refugee admissions.

According to the 2023 Census Bureau estimates, around 43.4 million Americans—approximately 13.7 percent of the population aged five and older—speak Spanish at home, highlighting the significant presence of Spanish speakers in the US, which has no official language.