Skip To...
Donald Trump launches his crackdown on immigrants with a controversial move to remove the Spanish version of the White House website, earning the ire of Americans and the Hispanic community. The first few hours of Trump’s administration brought along numerous changes, some expected and some proving shocking to the bones. Some of these changes seemingly target immigrants and the nation’s minority groups, driving a message that his administration had no intentions of tolerating them. From the declaration of his plans to rename the Gulf of Mexico as Gulf of America, to executive orders targeting immigration and border security.
Although strict, some of these actions so far fall within reason given how vocal he was about them throughout his campaign. However, the administration’s decision to delete the Spanish version of the White House Website defies any justifiable logic according to aggrieved Americans who weighed in on Donald Trump’s actions.
White House Takes Action After Directing Visitors to Go Home
Shortly after President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday, visitors quickly noticed that the White House Spanish website, “La Casa Blanca” had gone offline. The link, Whitehouse.gov/es initially redirected visitors to the error message, “404 Page Not Found,” with a link that read “Go Home” pointing visitors back to the home page. This resulted in an online uproar, as netizens slammed the POTUS and his administration for intentionally instructing Spanish speakers and others in the Hispanic and Latino community to “Go home.”
Amid the backlash, Donald Trump’s White House changed the redirecting link to read, “Go To Home Page,” having realized the literal implication of the initial phrase. Yet, that did little to douse the anger, as many remained outraged at the administration’s decision to remove the Spanish website in the first place. While many continue probing Trump for answers, others have turned to social media and other media outlets to bash the President and his cabinet, describing them as “vile,” and “petty bullies” among other outrageous labels.
Donald Trump Criticized for Removing Spanish Site From White House
Lee Ivory, a former USA Today editor and American University journalism professor described Donald Trump’s move to take down the White House Spanish website as “some Grinch-level bullsh-t” in an X post. Artist Candee Corliss described the move as Vile, while MSNBC Columnist Julio Ricardo jeered on Blue Sky,
“I am ‘shocked’ that White House homepage does not have a Spanish-language version. Here we go again.”
The group, Activist Democrats fired on Blue Sky,
“I wonder how all the Hispanics who voted him feel about the fact the Spanish language version of the White House website and official Twitter account were taken down.”
Many netizens have also accused the president of racism and promoting “White supremacy,” evident in his move to take down the Spanish website. One Reddit user wrote,
“Raw GOP racism. And still getting so many Latino votes. Amazing.”
Another added,
“They just can’t miss any opportunity for small-minded petty bullying no matter how small, can they?”
White House Secretary Promises to Restore Spanish Website Under Trump’s Administration
Meanwhile, some attempted to defend the White House and its decision to take the Spanish website offline after Donald Trump assumed office. One Redditor pointed out that the official White House website always got a “reorganization” at the start of every administration. Hence, the missing Spanish site just might be a temporary situation that would be restored. Speaking to the Associated Press, White House principal deputy press secretary Harrison Fields appeared to confirm this, saying the administration remained committed to bringing back the Spanish translation section.
Many deem this a baseless reassurance given that it was not exactly Donald Trump’s first attempt to trash the Spanish section of the White House website. In fact, the move mirrors his earlier attempt in 2017 to axe the Spanish version of the website. However, Joe Biden restored the version after taking office in 2021. Hence, pulling a similar stunt four years later won’t be a surprising move from the president, who has all but declared war on the United States’ Hispanic community with his vow to deport millions of immigrants.
