Hours after President Donald Trump's inauguration, the new government removed the Spanish version of the official White House website.
The site — currently https://www.whitehouse.gov/es/ — now shows users a "Error 404" message. It also included a "Go to Home" button that directed users to a page with a montage of videos of Trump in his first term and during the election campaign. Later, the button was updated to "Go to the Main Page," where an image of Trump with the slogan "America is back" appears.
Hispanic groups expressed confusion over the sudden change and frustration at what some called the government's lack of efforts to communicate with the Latino community, which helped propel him to the presidency.
The Spanish profile of the White House on X, @LaCasaBlanca, and the government page on reproductive freedom were also dismantled. Meanwhile, the Spanish versions of other government agencies such as the Departments of Labor, Justice, and Agriculture remained available to users on Tuesday.
When asked about the changes, White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Harrison Fields responded on Tuesday that the government is "committed to bringing back online the Spanish translation section of the website."
"It's day two. We are in the process of developing, editing, and adjusting the White House website. As part of this ongoing work, some of the archived content on the website became inactive. We are committed to reloading that content in the short term," he said without providing further details.
Trump eliminated the Spanish version of the page in 2017. At that time, White House officials said they would restore it. President Joe Biden reinstated the page in 2021.
The shutdown of the website coincided with Trump's first wave of presidential decrees, characterized by the launch of a campaign against illegal immigration that was one of his main promises. Trump declared a national emergency on the border between the United States and Mexico on Monday and announced plans to send US troops to help support immigration agents and restrict the entry of refugees and asylum seekers.
According to the 2023 Census estimates, about 43.4 million Americans — 13.7% of the US population aged 5 and older — speak Spanish at home. The United States does not have an official language.
"A slap in the face to Hispanic voters"
Mónica Rivera, a brand and communications strategist in New York City of Puerto Rican and Cuban descent, said the closure sends a clear signal. "There are 43 million Latinos who speak Spanish as their first language, and cutting off access to information directly from the White House draws a clear line about who they serve and, more dangerously, signals to the government's MAGA base that we Latinos are 'others' and a less significant part of this country," Rivera said, referring to Trump's slogan "Make America Great Again" to designate the president's staunch followers.
Anthony Hernández, a legal assistant in the nation's capital, was unaware of the change and said it suggests what the next years of a second Trump presidential term would be like, with specific issues dominating headlines while "minor but equally malicious things like that go unnoticed."
"A move like closing the Spanish White House page and the X profile serves no other purpose than cutting resources for millions of Hispanic Americans and immigrants trying to legally enter the United States," Hernández said. "And it's a slap in the face to the millions of Hispanic voters who supported him in this recent election."
Trump's Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, is Cuban-American and speaks Spanish. In his oath on Tuesday, he said a few words in Spanish to thank God, his family, and Trump.
Meanwhile, Hispanic leaders and communication strategy experts expressed surprise at the page's removal, given Trump's popularity among certain Latino voters.
"If the White House is genuinely interested in engaging with Latinos, the second-largest group in this country, then they need to ensure that updates can also be distributed in Spanish, a preferred language for millions in our community," said Frankie Miranda, President and CEO of the Hispanic Federation. He described it as a way to ensure that "everyone is part of the civic process."
Jeff Lee, former cabinet undersecretary and deputy director of external and international affairs for former California Governor Jerry Brown, said the move seems contradictory given the opportunity to "showcase" policy changes, especially those related to the economy and border security. "I didn't see other linguistic media receive the same treatment. So I think it's really interesting to point that out, if that's the case," Lee said.
AP VoteCast, a national survey of over 120,000 voters, found that Trump convinced a higher proportion of Black and Latino voters than in 2020, notably among men under 45. Young Latinos, particularly young Latino men, were also more open to Trump than in 2020. Approximately half of young Latino men voted for Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, compared to about 6 in 10 who voted for Biden.