Three U.S. States Face Federal Funding Cuts Over Trucker English Rules

    Three U.S. States Face Federal Funding Cuts Over Trucker English Rules
    Above: U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy (left) and Chief Counsel for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Jesse Ellison in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 26, 2025. Image copyright: Eric Lee/Bloomberg/Getty Images

    The Spin

    Democratic narrative

    Trump’s English-only trucking order is less about safety than it is political theater. By sidelining immigrant drivers during a historic labor shortage, it risks crippling supply chains and inflating costs for U.S. families. Targeting immigrant truckers, who have kept goods moving through crises, punishes essential workers under the guise of “safety,” while deepening discrimination.

    Pro-Trump narrative

    Requiring truckers to speak English isn’t xenophobia — it’s common sense. Lives depend on drivers' understanding of road signs, safety orders and emergency directions without delay. For years, lax enforcement has cost lives. Trump’s order restores sanity: no one should be behind the wheel of an 80,000-pound vehicle if they can’t communicate clearly in America’s national language.



    Go Deeper


    Political split

    LEFT

    RIGHT



    © 2025 Improve the News Foundation. All rights reserved.Version 6.15.1

    © 2025 Improve the News Foundation.

    All rights reserved.

    Version 6.15.1