Rubio orders State Department to change official memo font, citing DEI issue: Official

ABC News ^ | 12/10/25 | Mariam Khan

[Round Earther]

There's a new serif in town!

The Calibri font is going the way of the typewriter at the State Department after Secretary of State Marco Rubio inked a memo mandating that the agency use only Times New Roman for official communications – and size 14 to boot, according to a department official.

The new directive, which was sent to all diplomats, is the latest action by the Trump administration to roll back diversity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The change is effective immediately, according to the directive.

Two years ago, Rubio’s predecessor, Antony Blinken, switched the State Department font to Calibri, on the recommendation of the State Department’s office of diversity and inclusion, in part to assist individuals with certain visual disabilities, such as low vision and dyslexia.

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TOPICS: Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: calibri; timesnewroman

[AFreeBird]

Oh geez.

I put a slash through my 7s as well as my zeros. It helps with my atrocious handwriting.

[Thank You Rush]

I’ve always used Arial - 14 font... Calibri at 14 font isn’t as large as Arial at 14...

[Retain Mike]

I’ll vote for Bahnscrift 12 for readability. I use Imprint MT Shadow 16 on my emails, but that is kind of a weird preference.

The State Department is such a mess I wonder how changing font solves any problem? Why hire someone whose mental energy deals with such issues, if the choice is someone capable of meaningful focus?

[LegendHasIt]

Arial is my second favorite font. Especially Ariel Bold when I want something to really stand out and be clear. That’s what I usually use when adding text to images.

But it is not as ‘pleasant to the eye’ to me as is TNR.

[Dr. Sivana]

What’s wrong with caliber type?

In my experience, "Calibri" only comes standard on Microsoft OSes. Times New Roman is universal.

[lastchance]

I fail to see why this is news.

[lastchance]

I put a slash through my sevens. Shall I begin measuring the Sudetenland for a new border?

[Dr. Sivana]

Times New Roman is so pre-2007. It's a relic. It's also a serif font which is meant for printed documents, not for viewing on a computer screen.

Times New Roman goes to 1937 and the Times of London. It being a "relic" is a feature, not a bug.

Modern screens are of high resolution, and 14 point in PDF will be plenty legible. The documents are printed as well, so a print friendly typeface is NOT a bad thing.

Calibri is a Microsoft product that dates to the early 2000s. It looks too much like the typeface used on highway signs that proved to be a bad idea.

[T.B. Yoits]

Modern screens are of high resolution, and 14 point in PDF will be plenty legible.

The "modern" screen is often a smartphone or tablet. Whether a smartphone, tablet, television screen, or computer monitor, a sans serif font shows up clearer when pixilated. Serif fonts are made for paper.

[T.B. Yoits]

Times New Roman goes to 1937 and the Times of London. It being a "relic" is a feature, not a bug.

Such fonts were made for typesetting dies in printing presses, not for modern printing and computer monitors. Why start at 1937? If it's about history, why not go back to fonts that look like ancient manuscripts?

[T.B. Yoits]

One reason Calibri was chosen was that text-to-voice software could read it better than Times New Roman. The State Department is going to find itself on the wrong end of lawsuits from groups in particular that represent those with impaired vision.

[Nervous Tick]

>> Comic Sans MS for all government documents!

I like the way you think!

[Dr. Sivana]

I would suggest that a long, technical document issued by the State Department is better read on paper or at least in a PDF on the desktop. The default typeface for a document should not be based on how it looks on a Smartphone. Paper is still the dominant format.

I know, because I create documents to be read by FFIEC regulators. I use a combination of Helvetica and Narriw Helvetica for Titles and footers, and “LettrGoth12 BT” for body text. My text is 90% numbers in tables, so a monospaced typeface is essential. It is criminal that Microsoft includes hundreds of typefaces, and only a handful of monospaced ones, most of which are inelegant or not designed for print (e.g. Terminal).

A lot of banks provide files filled with Calibri text, which looks like it is almost monospaced, but isn’t. It isn’t an awful type face, but to me using Calibri screams we are a Microsoft shop as loudly as “Chicago” identifies a Mac user. (Palatino would, too, but only to those who know the backstory. AT least Palatino existed outside the Apple universe.)

[Dr. Sivana]

Why start at 1937? If it's about history, why not go back to fonts that look like ancient manuscripts?

Funny you say that. I was representing myself in a legal matter, and while the other side used Times New Roman most of the time, I actually went back to Courier, to give it a typewriter look.

There is no unanimity among the big legal publishers. Lexis went all in on sans-serif for both print and screen, and WestLaw sticks with serif for both.

[Dr. Sivana]

The State Department is going to find itself on the wrong end of lawsuits from groups in particular that represent those with impaired vision.

Select all--Copy--Paste . . . done.

Can't do that with a read-only PDF and even less with hard copy. The 14 point size should make the impaired people happy with the paper version.

[aquila48]

“This is so juvenile.”

I agree. Its taking a serious policy (anti DEI) and turning it it into a joke.

And how much is this going to cost?

[tumblindice]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucas_de_Groot
This swamp-dwelling dike-plugger designed Calibri.
Let me remind you, the Dutch killed all our beautiful elm trees.
Lucas talks like a fag and his s***s all retarded ...
It’s Times New Roman for unwoke, red-blooded, non-gay, all-American tree lovers who are not retarded!
Yay Marco, you go boy