Trump administration says sign language services ‘intrude’ on Trump’s ability to control his image

By MEG KINNARD The Trump administration is arguing that requiring real-time American Sign Language interpretation of events like White House press briefings would severely intrude on the President s prerogative to control the image he presents to the community part of a lawsuit seeking to require the White House to provide the services Department of Justice attorneys haven t elaborated on how doing so might hamper the portrayal President Donald Trump seeks to present to the inhabitants But overturning policies encompassing diversity equity and inclusion have become a hallmark of his second administration starting with his very first week back in the White House The National Association for the Deaf sued the Trump administration in May arguing that the cessation of American Sign Language interpretation which the Biden administration had used regularly represented 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 The group also sued during Trump s first administration seeking ASL interpretation for briefings related to the COVID- pandemic In a June court filing opposing the association s request for a preliminary injunction announced Thursday by Politico attorneys for the Justice Department argued that being required to provide sign language interpretation for news conferences would severely intrude on the President s prerogative to control the image he presents to the community also writing that the president has the prerogative to shape his Administration s image and messaging as he sees fit Authorities attorneys also argued that it provides the hard of hearing or Deaf neighborhood with other procedures to access the president s statements like online transcripts of events or closed captioning The administration has also argued that it would be hard to wrangle such services in the event that Trump spontaneously took questions from the press rather than at a formal briefing A White House spokesperson did not directly comment Friday on the ongoing lawsuit or answer questions about the administration s argument regarding the damage of interpretation services to Trump s image Related Articles House Democrats release photos of Trump Clinton and Andrew from Epstein s estate Trump led Republicans to power in But could be a different story Trump pardons former Colorado elections clerk but it alone won t free her from prison Wisconsin congressional redistricting lawsuits may not resolve by midterm polling Howie Carr ICE was here for hit-and-run victim Last month a federal judge rejected that and other objections from the regime issuing an order requiring the White House to provide American Sign Language interpreting for Trump and Leavitt s remarks in real time The White House has appealed the ruling and while the administration has begun providing American Sign Language interpreting at specific events there s disagreement over what services it has to supply On his first week back in office Trump signed a sweeping executive order putting a stop to diversity equity and inclusion programs across the U S administration In putting his own imprint on the Pentagon Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in January issued an order stating that DEI policies were incompatible with the department s mission This week Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered diplomatic correspondence to return to the more traditional Times New Roman font arguing that the Biden administration s shift to the sans serif Calibri font had emerged from misguided diversity equity and inclusion policies pursued by his predecessor