Rubio: Biden-Era Font Change Was a 'Degradation'

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has ordered the State Department to stop using Calibri, the easy-to-read typeface adopted under the Biden administration, calling it a "wasteful" nod to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) initiatives. In a Tuesday directive to diplomatic posts around the world, obtained by the New York Times, Rubio ordered a return to 14-point Times New Roman, arguing Calibri looks "informal," clashes with official letterhead, and that Times New Roman will "restore decorum and professionalism" to the department's written work.

The move reverses a 2023 decision by then–Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who changed the official font on the recommendation of the department's diversity and inclusion office, which Rubio has since abolished. That shift to Calibri—a sans serif typeface considered easier to read for people with low vision, dyslexia, or those using screen readers—was praised by accessibility advocates. Rubio dismissed those justifications, saying the change failed because "accessibility-based document remediation cases" did not decline. The change instead led to "the degradation of the department's official correspondence," Rubio said.

Rubio's order folds typography into a broader Trump administration push to roll back DEIA initiatives and emphasize "classical" aesthetics in government, including through federal architecture. The directive notes that serif fonts like Times New Roman—rooted in Roman antiquity and used by the White House, Supreme Court, and even on the side of Air Force One—are generally associated with "tradition, formality and ceremony." Times New Roman had been the State Department standard for nearly two decades before Blinken's Calibri switch; before 2004, the department used Courier New. Calibri is the default font in Microsoft products, notes Reuters.