White House allows agencies to choose language freely

The White House has clarified that it does not maintain a list of banned words for official documents. Instead, the use of language is left to individual agencies. Reports had emerged recently claiming that the Trump administration restricted hundreds of words, including "diverse" and "LGBTQ." However, an official stated that agencies decide on word choices based on Trump's executive orders. Since taking office, President Trump has signed 92 executive orders, many aimed at diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, as well as issues related to transgender rights. Some executive orders have reversed policies from the Biden administration, including those related to DEI programs. Media coverage suggested that around 250 words were removed from the administration's usage, often linked to transgender issues and DEI concepts. Words such as "breastfeed + people," "people + uterus," and "they/them" were mentioned in these discussions. In February, the White House responded to claims that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) instructed its officials to avoid terms like "woman" and "elderly." They argued these words do not need to be banned to align with the president's orders on gender and diversity topics. Notably, previous administrations have adapted language in government documents to reflect their policies. For example, the Biden administration used "birthing people" in place of "mothers." Earlier, the Obama administration preferred "undocumented immigrants" over "illegal immigrants."