U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order Friday designating English as the official language of the United States, the first time the nearly 250-year-old multilingual nation will have one.

The Republican president’s order “promotes unity, establishes efficiency in government operations, and creates a pathway for civic engagement,” according to a White House fact sheet obtained byThe Associated Press.

“While over 350 languages are spoken in the United States, English remains the most widely used across the country,” the White House added. “This order celebrates multilingual Americans who have learned English and passed it down, while empowering immigrants to achieve the American Dream through a common language.”

The directive will allow government agencies and federally funded organizations to choose whether to continue to offer documents and services in foreign languages. The directive rescinds an order signed by former President Bill Clinton that was retained by each subsequent administration requiring federal agencies and federally funded groups to offer language assistance to non-English speakers.

Over 30 states have already enacted legislation making English their official language, according to the advocacy group U.S. English.

“Gas up. Groceries up. Inflation up,”
wrote one user on the social media site Bluesky. “But Trump wants to focus on making English the official language of the U.S.”

Another social media user
quipped: “Press 1 for English. Press 2 for Trump is a pandering fucking asshole.”