- Trump admin opposes real-time ASL at briefings.
- Aims to control President's public image tightly.
- Amid ongoing federal lawsuit challenge.
Attorneys for the Department of Justice have not explained how doing so could undermine the public image that President Donald Trump wants to project. However, since his first week back in the White House, reversing policies pertaining to diversity, equity, and inclusion have become a defining feature of his second administration.
In May, the National Association for the Deaf filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, claiming that "denying hundreds of thousands of deaf Americans meaningful access to the White House's real-time communications on various issues of national and international import" was the result of the Biden administration's regular use of American Sign Language interpretation. During Trump's first term, the group also filed a lawsuit, requesting ASL interpretation for COVID-19 briefings.
Attorneys for the Justice Department contended that requiring sign language interpretation for news conferences "would severely intrude on the President's prerogative to control the image he presents to the public" and that the president has "the prerogative to shape his Administration's image and messaging as he sees fit" in a June court filing opposing the association's request for a preliminary injunction, which Politico reported on Thursday.
Additionally, government lawyers contended that it gives the Deaf and hard of hearing communities additional access to the president's remarks through closed captioning or online transcripts of events. Additionally, the administration has maintained that it would be challenging to provide such services in the event that Trump answered questions from the media on his own initiative.
A White House official did not immediately respond to inquiries about the administration's claim that interpretation services harm Trump's "image" or comment on the pending litigation on Friday.
Government lawyers questioned if other arms of government were held to the same standards if they failed to offer the same interpretive services that the organization requested in its June submission.
Washington probably has a large pool of qualified ASL interpreters that the White House could use because it is home to Gallaudet University, the world's best college for the deaf and hard of hearing. With two alternating interpreters, Mayor Muriel Bowser has made ASL interpreting a staple of her appearances.
That and other government concerns were dismissed by a federal judge last month, who issued an order mandating that the White House offer real-time American Sign Language interpretation for Trump and Leavitt's speech. Although the administration has started offering American Sign Language interpretation at select occasions, there is controversy over what services it must provide. The White House has appealed the decision.
Trump signed a broad executive order ending diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives throughout the U.S. government during his first week back in office. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made his mark on the Pentagon in January when he issued an order declaring that DEI procedures were "incompatible" with the objective of the department.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered diplomatic correspondence to revert to the more conventional Times New Roman font this week, claiming that the Biden administration's 2023 switch to the sans serif Calibri font resulted from his predecessor's misguided diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
What legal arguments did the judge reject in this case?
In the National Association of the Deaf v. Trump action, the civil judge rejected the Trump administration's core arguments that real- time ASL practitioners at White House briefings were gratuitous or overly burdensome under the Rehabilitation Act.
The court dismissed assertions that closed captions alone serve for deaf access, chancing them shy for effective communication during live events; it also overruled claims of inordinate executive costs or product dislocations, ruling that Title II authorizations" meaningful access" without similar immunity.
Judge ruled the White House qualifies as a public reality, dragooning original services to hearing attendees; previous Biden- period ASL perpetration proved doable, negating" novelty" defenses, leading to the November 2025 order now under appeal.