Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri

by italophil on 12/10/2025, 12:08:34 AM

<a href="https://archive.md/x0Sxc" rel="nofollow">https://archive.md/x0Sxc</a>

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/rubio-stages-font-coup-times-new-roman-ousts-calibri-2025-12-09/

Comments

by: LucasFonts

Our studio, LucasFonts, designed Calibri. Here are our CEO Luc(as) de Groot’s thoughts on the matter:The decision to abandon Calibri on the grounds of it being a so-called “wasteful diversity font” is both amusing and regrettable. Calibri was specifically designed to enhance readability on modern computer screens and was selected by Microsoft in 2007 to replace Times New Roman as the default font in the Office suite. There were sound reasons for moving away from Times: Calibri performs exceptionally well at small sizes and on standard office monitors, whereas serif fonts like Times New Roman tend to appear more distorted. While serif fonts are well-suited to high-resolution displays, such as those found on modern smartphones, on typical office screens the serifs introduce unnecessary visual noise and can be particularly problematic for users with impaired vision, such as older adults.Professional typography can be achieved with both serif and sans-serif fonts. However, Times New Roman—a typeface older than the current president—presents unique challenges. Originally crafted in Great Britain for newspaper printing, Times was optimised for paper, with each letterform meticulously cut and tested for specific sizes. In the digital era, larger size drawings were repurposed as models, resulting in a typeface that appears too thin and sharp when printed at high quality.Serif fonts are often perceived as more traditional, but they are also more demanding to use effectively. While a skilled typographer can, in theory, produce excellent results with Times, using it in its default digital form is not considered professional practice.Calibri, by contrast, incorporates extensive spacing adjustments and language-specific refinements. The digital version of Times New Roman, developed in the early days of computing, offers only minimal kerning and letter-pair adjustments. This is especially evident in words set in all capitals—such as “CHICAGO”—where the spacing is inconsistent: the letters “HIC” are tightly packed, while “CAG” are spaced too far apart. Microsoft cannot rectify these issues without altering the appearance of existing documents.

12/11/2025, 10:02:44 AM

by: chinathrow

> U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday ordered diplomats to return to using Times New Roman font in official communications, calling his predecessor Antony Blinken's decision to adopt Calibri a "wasteful" diversity move, according to an internal department cable seen by Reuters.What a waste of government time and spending.

12/11/2025, 7:47:48 AM

by: praptak

Calibri was supposedly easier to read by people with disabilities. While this itself is debatable, that's not the reasoning behind the font switch. The mere attempt at making life easier for disadvantaged people is labeled DEI and as such cannot be tolerated by this administration.

12/11/2025, 5:46:28 AM

by: pinkmuffinere

When I read the headline i thought “well obviously they don’t mean Marco Rubio, there must be some famous publicist or something”. Cannot believe it actually was Marco Rubio, lol

12/10/2025, 10:30:35 PM

by: zzo38computer

Calibri font has "I" and "l" the same, according to Wikipedia. A better font should avoid characters being too similar (such as "I" and "l" and "1").Another issue is due to the font size and font metrics, how much space it will take up on the page, to be small enough to avoid wasting paper and ink but also not too small to read.So, there are multiple issues in choosing the fonts; however, Times New Roman and Calibri are not the only two possible choices.Maybe the government should make up their own (hopefully public domain) font, which would be suitable for their purposes (and avoiding needing proprietary fonts), and use that instead.

12/10/2025, 6:40:51 AM

by: softgrow

As documented at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Google_Easter_eggs" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Google_Easter_eggs</a> google search for "times new roman font" and the results are returned in that font. (<a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=Times+New+Roman+Font" rel="nofollow">https://www.google.com/search?q=Times+New+Roman+Font</a> for the lazy). Looks terrible on my screen.

12/10/2025, 2:22:12 AM

by: amluto

IMO Calibri and Times New Roman are both poor choices: they are not free. The US Government’s works are not generally subject to copyright, and IMO it’s rather obnoxious for their fonts to be restricted. Also, Calibri is specifically a Microsoft font, and maybe the government should be a bit less beholden to Microsoft.IMO the government should pick something available under an appropriate free license or commission a new font for the purpose.(I personally much prefer Times New Roman to Calibri for printed documents, but that’s neither here nor there.)

12/11/2025, 10:47:43 AM

by: dsevil

I've seen some comments about how Times New Roman was replaced with something else to improve readability by many.There's an irony: the _Times_ (of London) commissioned it in 1932 to improve the readability of its newspaper, which previously used a Didone/Modern style typeface.I like Times New Roman and I find Calibri, a rounded-corner sans serif, to be an absolute abomination of milquetoast typography.

12/11/2025, 1:42:50 AM

by: thayne

> calling his predecessor Antony Blinken's decision to adopt Calibri a "wasteful" diversity moveAnd changing it back to Times New Roman isn't wasteful?

12/11/2025, 12:09:27 AM

by: stevetron

Which Times does Rubio want: There's a NY version, and a Chicago version.I got politely informed to not use NYTimes font in a paper I turned-in when I was in college. On that occasion, it was an accident. I'd taken the file to school to print, and my owiginal font selection had been replaced by the default. My professor merely said that it is hard to read by people with older eyes.Several years later, I understand. My default font is now set for Liberation Sans. I have trouble reading 'decorative' fonts. For printouts, I use Liberation Mono.

12/11/2025, 3:07:55 PM

by: ivanjermakov

Times New Roman is extremely common and often the only accepted font for official documents and colloquial works in post-soviet countries: <a href="https://www.cnews.ru/news/top/2018-12-10_rossijskim_chinovnikam_zapretili_ispolzovat" rel="nofollow">https://www.cnews.ru/news/top/2018-12-10_rossijskim_chinovni...</a>.I have only bad memories of using it since I directly associate it with endless formatting fixes for my diploma and course works.

12/10/2025, 11:12:03 PM

by: UncleOxidant

There's a new serif in town.

12/11/2025, 1:24:41 AM

by: mathgradthrow

Here's the actual memo, in case you want to read it yourself and form your own conclusions:<a href="https://daringfireball.net/misc/2025/12/state-department-return-to-tradition.text" rel="nofollow">https://daringfireball.net/misc/2025/12/state-department-ret...</a>

12/11/2025, 6:01:24 PM

by: loadingcmd

As the administration steps back from global affairs, it seems the State Department is searching for direction. Rubio would go like - we’re done with managing world affairs via the NSS, what should we do next? Let’s change the font for a new perspective!

12/10/2025, 3:33:59 AM

by: nelox

Reuters calling the switch a "font" change instead of a typeface change is troubling, though consistent with a society that now casually refers to all pasta as "spaghetti". A typeface is the design; a font is its specific instance. This is basic knowledge, taught to children, houseplants, and most domesticated goats.A simple correction would stop this spiral, but Reuters appears committed to forging a bold new era in which terminology is chosen at random, like drawing Scrabble tiles from a bag and declaring them journalism.

12/11/2025, 8:35:54 AM

by: RajBhai

I have a couple of thoughts about this.Firstly, I thought sans-serif typefaces were encouraged for digital media because they read better than serif fonts. But now that high pixel density displays have permeated the market, this might be a moot point.On another note, I wonder how much of the hate TNR gets stems from its ubiquity for having been installed on almost all personal computers for the past n decades.Paganis are beautifully designed cars, but the labelling of buttons and toggles inside the center console look cheap (IMO) because their font seems straight out of a quickly made flyer designed by bored teacher who just discovered Word Art.

12/10/2025, 10:02:39 AM

by: jcalvinowens

The verbiage in the PR reminds me of a bit from The Night Watch [1]:> [...] and at some point, you will have to decide whether serifs are daring statements of modernity, or tools of hegemonic oppression that implicitly support feudalism and illiteracy[1] <a href="https://www.usenix.org/system/files/1311_05-08_mickens.pdf" rel="nofollow">https://www.usenix.org/system/files/1311_05-08_mickens.pdf</a>

12/11/2025, 8:51:47 PM

by: idatum

I love how people are passionate about fonts. Search for the 2017 Saturday Night Live skit with Ryan Gosling "Papyrus". It captures the obsession!"It’s like they spent $300 million on the movie, and then.. They just used Papyrus."

12/10/2025, 1:25:42 AM

by: WhyOhWhyQ

Is Calibri actually more accessible? Every step of this story seems pointless and fake.

12/10/2025, 10:35:49 PM

by: weinzierl

Leaders and typefaces:In 1941 Adolf Hitler personally gave order to make the use of the Antiqua mandatory and forbade the use of Fraktur and Schwabacher typefaces.<a href="https://ligaturix.de/bormann.htm" rel="nofollow">https://ligaturix.de/bormann.htm</a>

12/10/2025, 10:56:01 PM

by: anigbrowl

While mostly framed as a matter of clarity and formality in presentation, Mr. Rubio’s directive to all diplomatic posts around the world blamed “radical” diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility programs for what he said was a misguided and ineffective switch from the serif typeface Times New Roman to sans serif Calibri in official department paperwork.In an “Action Request” memo obtained by The New York Times, Mr. Rubio said that switching back to the use of Times New Roman would “restore decorum and professionalism to the department’s written work.” Calibri is “informal” when compared to serif typefaces like Times New Roman, the order said, and “clashes” with the department’s official letterhead.As far back as I can recall, this is a politician who has railed against 'political correctness'.

12/10/2025, 2:03:12 AM

by: r0ckarong

Good thing the world is entirely stable and the United States have literally no more pressing issues.

12/10/2025, 8:58:33 AM

by: treetalker

Butterick on TNR:(<a href="https://practicaltypography.com/times-new-roman-alternatives.html" rel="nofollow">https://practicaltypography.com/times-new-roman-alternatives...</a>)> When Times New Roman appears in a book, document, or advertisement, it connotes apathy. It says, “I submitted to the font of least resistance.” Times New Roman is not a font choice so much as the absence of a font choice, like the blackness of deep space is not a color. To look at Times New Roman is to gaze into the void.> If you have a choice about using Times New Roman, please stop. Use something else.And on Calibri:(<a href="https://practicaltypography.com/calibri-alternatives.html" rel="nofollow">https://practicaltypography.com/calibri-alternatives.html</a>)> Like Cambria, Calibri works well on screen. But in print, its rounded corners make body text look soft. If you need a clean sans serif font, you have better options.- - -To telegraph an identity, TNR is a good choice for this administration; so, credit where due, well played. Still, I would have gone with Comic Sans.

12/10/2025, 1:38:43 AM

by: tyleo

Never before has a font change been so politically divisive.I’ll personally be taking my votes to supporters of Helvetica next election.

12/10/2025, 12:34:51 PM

by: elzbardico

I like serif fonts, but never liked Times New Roman too much. Printed, in high resolution, it is kind of ok, but I absolutely abhor it on displays. Which is where we read things 99% of the time nowadays.

12/10/2025, 1:31:49 AM

by: userbinator

I never liked Calibri when it was pushed aggressively by MS and showed up everywhere - I prefer Arial or Helvetica for sans-serif, and think TNR is a good default for serif, with Computer Modern a close second.

12/11/2025, 6:46:14 AM

by: manoDev

Hilarious. It could be a Mike Judge script.

12/10/2025, 1:02:34 AM

by: martin_a

Besides all the daily stuff that happens with the current US government, I'm _really_ excited (not in the best way) to see how the citizens of the USA, Europe and the whole world will deal with the aftermaths of the current government.Strange times to live in.

12/11/2025, 12:27:45 PM

by: jurjo

For a moment I thought it had something to do with "Cuadernillos Rubio" [1]. They are small workbooks quite common in Spain for kids to learn how to write. However, the font they use is not Times New Roman...[1] <a href="https://www.amazon.es/-/en/gp/product/8417427627?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_calw_tcom_9&storeType=ebooks" rel="nofollow">https://www.amazon.es/-/en/gp/product/8417427627?ref_=dbs_m_...</a>

12/11/2025, 2:37:35 PM

by: Havoc

This is why I'm seriously considering learning Chinese. Next 50 years won't be US lead.When senior government officials are spending time & public mindshare/attention on whether a particular font is or is not diverse then you know it is game over.The details don't matter...this being a topic at all is the news

12/10/2025, 10:40:44 PM

by: mjmas

Looking through a selection of papers on serif vs non-serif fonts the conclusions seem to be that there is little difference when printed, but when viewing on-screen sans-serif is preferred.

12/11/2025, 4:26:57 AM

by: soupfordummies

"[Rubio] ...calling his predecessor Antony Blinken's decision to adopt Calibri a "wasteful" diversity move..."Bro what. It was the default font in Microsoft for many years thus, it was the default font for most office software for many years -- just like Times New Roman was before.What.

12/10/2025, 1:10:05 AM

by: Adrock

Surprised they didn’t go with .

12/11/2025, 9:10:17 PM

by: HPsquared

Does anyone else like to change the font on news articles using Inspect Element?Also in Word etc, if I've got to spend a lot of time in a large document, I'll usually edit the paragraph body style temporarily to something sans serif. It's just better on screen.

12/10/2025, 10:20:43 PM

by: ycombigrator

What do you call a Banana Republic that has lots of different kinds of bananas?

12/11/2025, 6:28:04 AM

by: m000

Good news: At least he didn't order the department to use Computer Modern.Bad news: Missed opportunity for Fraktur to make a comeback.

12/11/2025, 6:18:25 PM

by: shadowtree

Good - Calibri is not open, badly supported on Linux et al.HN should rejoice in the US gov using a font that is open and truly cross platform.

12/11/2025, 12:52:35 AM

by: Stratoscope

Additional reporting from Gizmodo:Marco Rubio Orders State Dept to Stop Using Calibri Font in Anti-DEI Push<a href="https://gizmodo.com/marco-rubio-orders-state-dept-to-stop-using-calibri-font-in-anti-dei-push-2000698012" rel="nofollow">https://gizmodo.com/marco-rubio-orders-state-dept-to-stop-us...</a>

12/11/2025, 11:02:20 AM

by: rorylawless

This is approaching Saparmurat Niyazov levels of weirdness.

12/10/2025, 11:52:15 PM

by: PaulHoule

Funny but my impression is that these days kerning is usually pretty bad with Serifed fonts in, at the very least, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Publisher, Microsoft Powerpoint, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe Illustrator.It is not so bad if you are using it for paragraphs but I can't stand the way serifed fonts come out if I am setting display text for a poster unless I manually take over and adjust the kerning. After I had this problem I was wondering if I was the only one or what other people did so I looked at posters people had put up around campus and had a really hard time finding posters where people were using serifed fonts in large sizes and my guess is people either start out with sans or they tried something with serifs but changed their mind because it looked wrong.

12/10/2025, 11:37:17 PM

by: thih9

> To restore decorum and professionalism to the Department’s written work products…Who defines decorum and professionalism? Because I’d say this change is anything but.Then again, this is very partisan and so subjective. Still, I’m not a fan of a government pushing certain esthetics with such a BS justification.

12/11/2025, 9:40:50 AM

by: 0xbadcafebee

<pre><code> > calling his predecessor Antony Blinken's decision to adopt Calibri a "wasteful" diversity move, > The department under Blinken in early January 2023 had switched to Calibri, a modern sans-serif font, > saying this was a more accessible font for people with disabilities </code></pre> Man, helping disabled people is so woke. Who was the woke politician who made the government support disabled americans?

12/10/2025, 11:54:05 PM

by: picafrost

This will make much more sense when the US announces its move away from Arabic numerals (too diverse) back to Roman numerals.

12/11/2025, 1:28:21 PM

by: indymike

Reminds me of the Postal Service spending billions to change the logo from a stylized eagle to a... stylized eagle.

12/11/2025, 1:29:41 PM

by: vvpan

How far has the migration away from TNR to Calibri progressed? Is it redoing everything or is it just abandoning an incomplete ongoing migration that mostly just started?

12/10/2025, 10:35:13 PM

by: orthoxerox

Should've picked Charis SIL. It's a legible and serious serif font, doesn't make you look like you picked the boring Big Tech default and has explicitly Christian origins.

12/11/2025, 7:48:10 AM

by: simondotau

As far as paper copies of laws and proclamations are concerned, the government can print them out in Wingdings for all I care. 99.999% of people will never see the physical paper. What matters are the digital files which, along with PDF, should be available to view in any font I want, whether Times New Roman or Comis Sans or braille.

12/11/2025, 12:31:15 AM

by: infotainment

I still can’t believe they switched to Calibri at all; the only people who should be using Calibri are people who don’t realize that Microsoft Word lets you pick other fonts.I do wish they’d gone for a classier serif though; Garamond was right there.

12/10/2025, 10:25:05 PM

by: legitster

> "To restore decorum and professionalism to the Department’s written work products and abolish yet another wasteful DEIA program, the Department is returning to Times New Roman as its standard typeface."So to reiterate, the department decided to move on from the 1992 default Word font to the 2007 Word default (1 year after it was no longer the default).Nothing is safe from politics when even a font choice has become "woke".

12/10/2025, 10:49:41 PM

by: oneeyedpigeon

I'm definitely not suggesting someone make one, but Rubio sounds like an awfully good name for a font...

12/11/2025, 11:29:15 AM

by: vanguardanon

I just wanted to add a comment that I never knew but if you google Times New Roman they display the entire Google web search results page in Times New Roman.

12/11/2025, 7:59:31 AM

by: reneberlin

"To serif or not to serif?" that is now a question of our Times.

12/11/2025, 1:46:19 PM

by: joshuaheard

Most federal courts require documents filed there to be in Times New Roman font.

12/11/2025, 2:31:47 AM

by: hbogert

The left and right signalling is such a waste of everyone's time and effort. Reactive pettiness

12/10/2025, 3:37:19 PM

by: mitchbob

> Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the Biden-era move to the sans serif typeface “wasteful,” casting the return to Times New Roman as part of a push to stamp out diversity efforts.<a href="https://archive.ph/2025.12.10-001235/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/us/politics/rubio-state-department-font.html" rel="nofollow">https://archive.ph/2025.12.10-001235/https://www.nytimes.com...</a>

12/10/2025, 2:02:14 AM

by: Klaus23

Good, and not because of the diversity drama that the US government wants to shoehorn in here. Any font that makes the uppercase "i" and the lowercase "L" look the same is absolute garbage. Yes, I have a strong opinion about this!

12/11/2025, 7:04:34 PM

by: itsjustjordan

Slightly related but today I learned if you Google a font the site changes to that font.

12/10/2025, 10:32:34 PM

by: 3836293648

The motivation is truly awful, but the result? Thank goodness. Calibri just screams unprofessional

12/11/2025, 9:20:34 AM

by: OhMeadhbh

This makes me want to run for President on the platform of Comic Sans for all government documents.

12/11/2025, 9:12:10 AM

by: retrocog

Fell asleep in America and woke up in Lilliput

12/11/2025, 6:19:01 AM

by: thinkindie

I'm amazed by all these silly priorities some people can find.

12/11/2025, 11:08:59 AM

by: Havoc

US has genuinely lost itIt genuinely feels like someone worked out that you don't actually need to build a better stealth bomber than the B2. You just need to infiltrate government enough to have them debate what fonts are wokeThen I think "nah surely not. can't be that easy". And then next week...another insane thing comes out of US republican camp. I'm starting to think one does indeed not need B2s to defeat an enemy

12/10/2025, 10:53:48 PM

by: hs586

I just realized that if you google the font (e.g. "Calibri font"), you get the search results in that font. Neat!

12/10/2025, 10:39:01 PM

by: mgkimsal

Make Arial Great Again

12/11/2025, 4:34:37 PM

by: wiz21c

really good 1st of April joke !!! rotflahem... We're not the 1st of April...

12/11/2025, 9:47:29 AM

by: jdub

There are very few ways in which US governance and/or regulation leads the developed world, but a huge (and surprising) one is the 1990 (!) Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). It is astonishingly, transformationally inclusive, and makes life better for every American (because everyone needs accessibility to different degrees, at different times).Switching from Calibri back to Times New Roman "because DEI" 100% tracks with this administration's spiteful Project 2025 vandalism.

12/11/2025, 5:32:58 AM

by: oldsklgdfth

Slightly tangential, is there any chance this is motivated by profit or someone making money off this?Otherwise, seems kinda benign and random.

12/10/2025, 11:26:24 PM

by: seydor

Does that mean there will be a Times Caesar , a Times Lady , a Times Mistress and Universal Times new Rome Time? What a Time to be alive

12/10/2025, 9:27:52 PM

by: woliveirajr

And now I know why the default font was changed in Word. Arg. Don't think I like Times New Roman but it was the recommend font for academic papers in Brazil (and the recommendation still persists).

12/11/2025, 5:51:53 PM

by: zkmon

The first-world problems!

12/11/2025, 7:19:17 AM

by: mhd

Don't a lot of courts use/mandate Century? Just use that. Better than TNR. If you can't afford a custom font…

12/10/2025, 10:42:27 PM

by: Hizonner

I'm mostly surprised it wasn't Fraktur.How pitiful do you have to be as Secretary of State to get into minutiae about fonts, anyway?

12/10/2025, 3:35:48 AM

by: ecopoesis

Today is a good day to learn about Nazi Germany's Normal Type Decree: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwabacher#History" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwabacher#History</a>

12/11/2025, 3:42:54 PM

by: HackerThemAll

Noto Serif would have been a better choice, it is far more readable and is capable of representing all languages in the world.But then it's bigger, for example to replace Time New Roman 10 it would require Noto Serif 8.5.

12/11/2025, 12:21:21 PM

by: seydor

A Glorious Font for the Times New Roman Caesar

12/11/2025, 7:17:37 AM

by: RobLach

The ole' turning around a failing effort with a rebrand.

12/11/2025, 3:37:35 AM

by: gverrilla

Dog whistle for transphobic people.

12/11/2025, 9:14:34 AM

by: b00ty4breakfast

yes, so wasteful to select a different font in 2025. Real cost-saving measure switching from the evil woke-font calibri to the strong masculine Times New Roman. Thank God Marco Rubio was on the case to set the universe back into alignment with this big-balled move.Terry Gilliam at his most deranged couldn't dream up this nonsense.

12/11/2025, 2:18:44 AM

by: bb88

TIL: if you google Times New Roman, you get Google search results in Times New Roman.You also get Calibri if you search for it, but not Zapf Dingbats.

12/11/2025, 6:58:11 AM

by: ggm

But you [sometimes] still have to use courier filing in the courts?

12/10/2025, 1:15:21 AM

by: pengaru

If only this administration would limit its actions to such forms of bikeshedding...

12/11/2025, 9:19:01 AM

by: platevoltage

Why is this a story? I'm fairly certain fonts change all of the time. Oh right, it's because they can't just make the change, they have to say something stupid about it. Republican voters, how are you not insulted? Is this really all it takes to get you to that voting booth?

12/11/2025, 8:30:37 AM

by: iambateman

You know what they always say…never waste a good crisis.This is our opportunity to tell our friends that neither Times New Roman nor Calibri are very good fonts.If they’re using Word—and they definitely are—Aptos is a better choice than either.If they want to look fancy and have a serif in their life, maybe they could try a little Cambria.But if they have a twinkle in their eye and seem like they want to learn, take a moment to introduce them to the wide and glorious world of Roboto. Tell them about the wonders of medium and light and semi-bold and extra-bold and wide and display and condensed and custom ligatures. Give them a taste of what real office typography could’ve been if Microsoft didn’t absolutely destroy it in the 90’s.Open their mind. Show them the truth. This is your time.

12/11/2025, 2:36:20 AM

by: DocTomoe

"Decorum" and Times New Roman. That's the equivalent of pointlessly plastering everything with marble and gold, you think you are doing Roman Empire meets Versailles, but ultimately, you're just being tacky.

12/11/2025, 7:55:19 AM

by: JSR_FDED

Such a dingbat move

12/10/2025, 11:07:04 PM

by: anonym29

Glad my government continues to work hard on solving the important problems that affect real people like me.

12/11/2025, 2:58:15 PM

by: bakies

This admin does like Roman stuff- like their salute

12/10/2025, 10:42:41 PM

by: nomdep

I figured the big scandal would be some bloated government contract shelling out millions for Calibri licenses. But nope, turns out the guy just… doesn’t like the font. What an absolute clown show.

12/11/2025, 1:37:50 PM

by: iguana_shine

This headline is obnoxious

12/11/2025, 6:45:19 AM

by: IceHegel

I'm dyslexic and I much prefer to read Times New Roman to Calibri. I think it's a good move.

12/11/2025, 5:03:05 AM

by: Svoka

I could consider anti-DEI sentiment that 'people jumping the lane' as morally acceptable (valid by itself but based on wrong assumptions), but this, this is just evil. Like why would you change font because it is harder to read for someone?

12/11/2025, 4:30:50 AM

by: techblueberry

What was wasted?

12/10/2025, 1:22:45 AM

by: embedding-shape

> <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/12/addressing-security-risks-from-price-fixing-and-anti-competitive-behavior-in-the-food-supply-chain/" rel="nofollow">https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/12/addr...</a>> window.getComputedStyle(document.querySelector('.entry-content > p')).fontFamily> '"Instrument Sans", sans-serif'I guess The White House hasn't received the memo yet about how important serifs is for "presenting a unified, professional voice in all communications". What a joke.

12/10/2025, 10:53:29 PM

by: Terretta

This change sounds like that "waste, fraud, and abuse" stuff.If you add up all the government memos, forms, letters, contracts, publications, everything printed globally…“wow. many serif. so pointy. much ink. such waste!” — Kabosu, probably

12/10/2025, 5:13:04 AM

by: sombragris

I support the change, though the rationale used for it seems to me to be nonsense.Times New Roman might not be the world's most beautiful font, but at least is a little bit less atrocious than Calibri (which is awful). So, whatever the rationale invoked, I welcome the change.Sometimes, when I have to work on documents which will be shared with many users, I use Times New Roman as serif, and Arial as a sans serif. Both choices are (admittedly in my very subjective opinion) better than Calibri, and it's almost guaranteed that every PC will have these fonts available, or at least exact metric equivalents of them.

12/10/2025, 6:05:48 PM

by: bigtones

I had to check this was actually Reuters and not The Onion. eye roll

12/10/2025, 1:12:45 AM

by:

12/11/2025, 6:21:46 AM

by: morshu9001

Wasn't there was a previous "coup" that changed it from TNR to Calibri? TNR is nicer though.

12/10/2025, 11:54:56 PM

by:

12/11/2025, 1:25:25 PM

by: BLKNSLVR

The princess and the pea.

12/10/2025, 11:39:20 PM

by: ndsipa_pomu

I'm surprised he didn't get Hugo Boss to design a font

12/11/2025, 10:26:40 AM

by: jgalt212

> The department under Blinken in early January 2023 had switched to Calibri, a modern sans-serif font, saying this was a more accessible font for people with disabilitiesThat's interesting because I've long been under the impression that serif fonts promoted easier reading. As such, serif fonts could / should be considered more accessible.

12/10/2025, 2:45:48 AM

by: dgeiser13

The ole DEIA font.

12/10/2025, 11:30:10 PM

by: GeorgeRichard

>>decorum and professionalism Yes, the hallmark of the Trump administration.

12/11/2025, 11:22:58 AM

by: gravy

Didn't I read somewhere that serif fonts are better for dyslexia

12/10/2025, 10:30:47 PM

by: wltr

There was an event (or events?) in the past, when some past documents were forged, but with the default (in MS Word, I suppose) Calibre font, which was released years later. I wonder if this has something to do with it.I love if someone remembers that event better and can provide a link. My memory serves it was about a decade or so ago.

12/11/2025, 5:57:25 AM

by: bvan

Seriously, with all the shit going on in the world, these guys spend time thinking about the wokeness of computer fonts?! What a clown show. Strike-through this administration.

12/11/2025, 2:34:49 AM

by: clickety_clack

The only non-partisan choice is comic sans.

12/11/2025, 1:24:45 AM

by: khazhoux

> "This formatting standard aligns with the President’s One Voice for America’s Foreign Relations directive, underscoring the Department’s responsibility to present a unified, professional voice in all communications," it added.This administration truly sets a high standard for professional communication...> S.V. Dáte, HuffPost’s senior White House correspondent, asked the White House earlier this month who suggested Budapest, Hungary, as the location for an upcoming meeting between Trump and Putin. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt responded: “Your mom did.” White House Communications Director Steven Cheung then followed up: “Your mom.”<a href="https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/steven-cheung-white-house-your-mom-message-b2855678.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-polit...</a>

12/11/2025, 1:03:58 AM

by: rat87

There's Clickbait and then this awful headline designed to give people heart attacks.Who care about fonts? Boring. Why not jazz it up by mentioning coups during an administration that previously tried to pull of a coup attempt. Any administration officials names and coup should not be in the same sentence unless they attempt another one(or unless it's talking about the previous one).

12/11/2025, 12:29:49 AM

by: throwacct

Could anyone please explain how this is "news" worthy? There are literally more pressing issues (inflation, wars, etc), and covering this is asinine, to say the least.

12/10/2025, 10:47:52 PM

by: stego-tech

It really is just a bunch of petulant (predominantly, but not exclusively) old fucks throwing tantrums at any form of progress or change whatsoever, huh.

12/10/2025, 11:56:40 PM

by:

12/10/2025, 10:45:32 PM

by: ChrisArchitect

[dupe] <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46212438">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46212438</a>

12/10/2025, 2:51:29 AM

by: cratermoon

Speaking of DEI: Stanley Morison, the inventor of Times New Roman, in collaboration with Victor Lardent, was one of the founders of The Guild of the Pope's Peace, an organization created to promote Pope Benedict XV's calls for peace in the face of the First World War. On the imposition of conscription in 1916 during First World War, he was a conscientious objector, and was imprisoned. <<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Morison#Early_life_and_career" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Morison#Early_life_and...</a>>

12/10/2025, 4:41:22 PM

by: SanjayMehta

His boss' posts on Truth Social should be in Comic Sans.

12/10/2025, 1:24:34 AM

by: gowld

Calibri was the default MS Word from 2007 until July 2023, when Aptos took over.Calibri became the State font in Jan 2023.

12/10/2025, 6:32:21 PM

by: xrd

I for one am grateful someone is finally standing up to these lunatic radical typographers and their diversity, equity and italics tyranny.

12/10/2025, 11:32:22 PM

by: dramm

Comic Sans might have been a more appropriate choice. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

12/11/2025, 5:20:43 AM

by:

12/11/2025, 4:35:39 AM

by: chuckadams

Apparently sans-serif is "woke" or something. Cleek's Law meets Poe's.

12/10/2025, 1:15:09 AM

by: cratermoon

Is it too off-topic or controversial to note that in January 1941 in an edict signed by Martin Bormann, head of the Nazi Party Chancellery and private secretary to Adolf Hitler, the Nazis called for a ban on the future use of Judenlettern (Jewish fonts) like Fraktur?<<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20151207071605/http://historyweird.com/1941-nazis-ban-jewish-fonts/" rel="nofollow">https://web.archive.org/web/20151207071605/http://historywei...</a>>

12/10/2025, 5:12:00 PM

by: Cryptoclidus

Bullshit looks better with serifs?

12/11/2025, 9:41:00 AM

by: snickerbockers

Why the fuck does anybody care? Also is there no way to view these documents in the font of you choice????The OP successfully included excerpts from the order without changing to times new roman so CLEARLY this is not insurmountable for anybody who actually notices irrelevant details such as this.

12/10/2025, 11:35:43 PM

by: thesagan

Once again Garamond is passed over. I truly live in dark times.

12/10/2025, 11:49:12 PM

by: dboreham

See also: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiqua%E2%80%93Fraktur_dispute" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiqua%E2%80%93Fraktur_disput...</a>

12/11/2025, 2:16:59 PM

by: SpaceManNabs

This is silly as Montserrat is the only true choice.

12/11/2025, 12:55:59 AM

by: ranger_danger

<a href="https://2021-2025.state.gov/secretary-antony-j-blinken-on-nprs-wait-wait-dont-tell-me/" rel="nofollow">https://2021-2025.state.gov/secretary-antony-j-blinken-on-np...</a>Secretary Antony Blinken on NPR's Wait Wait...Don’t Tell Me! About the U.S. Department of State moving from Times New Roman to Calibri.

12/10/2025, 1:22:53 AM

by: gjvc

Roboto Condensed's description reads like something written by wine journalist:Roboto has a dual nature. It has a mechanical skeleton and the forms are largely geometric. At the same time, the font features friendly and open curves. While some grotesks distort their letterforms to force a rigid rhythm, Roboto doesn’t compromise, allowing letters to be settled into their natural width. This makes for a more natural reading rhythm more commonly found in humanist and serif types.A Sancerre with a long, sweet finish.

12/11/2025, 1:32:17 AM

by: int0x29

Ah yes Calibri is now "DEI". Rubio don't you have a real job?

12/10/2025, 10:31:44 PM

by: ropable

It's beyond satire that US conservatives are now somehow upset about certain fonts being woke.

12/11/2025, 6:14:14 AM

by: apercu

The current administration will do anything to distract folks from the corruption, fraud, grift and incompetence.And it works!

12/10/2025, 10:55:18 PM

by: js2

Previously:Times New Roman is being phased out at the State Department, replaced by Calibri207 points|danso|3 years ago|256 comments<a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34427504">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34427504</a>

12/10/2025, 1:48:22 AM

by: yincrash

Even if you believe the previous administration switching fonts was virtue signaling, then by the same logic you have to also believe this is just virtue signalling.

12/10/2025, 10:32:58 PM

by: anilakar

> present a unified, professional voice in all communicationsMight want to start by banning tweeting then.

12/10/2025, 10:38:23 PM

by: throw03172019

I’m surprised this administration did not chose Comic Sans as the default font.

12/10/2025, 10:27:30 PM

by: queuebert

I'm glad to see that a government elected by rural, blue-collar workers is tackling the issues those workers care most about./s

12/11/2025, 4:42:41 PM

by: Bender

Perhaps it is time to get traction on "tabs vs spaces". /sIf they want to look like a proper government then the correct answer is monospace and in ALL CAPS just like FAA NOTAMS, obviously.

12/10/2025, 9:33:25 PM

by: jennyholzer

[dead]

12/11/2025, 1:01:15 PM

by: ebbi

[flagged]

12/10/2025, 10:20:22 PM

by: istillcantcode

[flagged]

12/10/2025, 1:53:58 AM

by: impure

[flagged]

12/10/2025, 1:51:58 AM

by: TehCorwiz

[flagged]

12/10/2025, 1:29:59 AM

by: deadbabe

Similarly, under the Biden administration there was a push for memory safety and adopting the Rust programming language.Now memory safety sounds too woke, and Trump administration will be moving back to pure C.

12/10/2025, 10:46:48 PM

by: rsynnott

This is Michael Scott levels of managerial nonsense, bloody hell.Is Trump incapable of hiring anyone borderline competent?

12/10/2025, 1:06:26 AM

by: slater

Stopped clock, twice right?

12/10/2025, 1:07:35 AM

by: epolanski

This feels like dystopia, sane management or administrations should delegate this stuff to experts, not politicians.We live in the world were everything is now "vibed" really.

12/10/2025, 10:35:41 PM

Top 20

Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri

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