Quick Hit:

President Trump announced Thursday he has instructed the Commerce Department to begin work on a new national census. Trump emphasized that the updated count will exclude illegal immigrants and reflect data gathered from the 2024 election.

Key Details:

• In a Truth Social post Thursday morning, President Trump directed the Department of Commerce to launch a new “highly accurate CENSUS based on modern day facts and figures.”
• Trump specified that individuals residing in the U.S. illegally “WILL NOT BE COUNTED IN THE CENSUS,” signaling a sharp break from past census practices.
• He also noted that the project will incorporate “results and information gained from the Presidential Election of 2024,” though did not elaborate on what that entails.

Diving Deeper:

President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he has instructed the Department of Commerce to begin work on a new census — one that he says will reflect a more accurate and up-to-date picture of the nation’s population by excluding illegal immigrants.

“I have instructed our Department of Commerce to immediately begin work on a new and highly accurate CENSUS based on modern day facts and figures and, importantly, using the results and information gained from the Presidential Election of 2024,” Trump posted to Truth Social. “People who are in our Country illegally WILL NOT BE COUNTED IN THE CENSUS.”

The announcement comes as the Trump administration intensifies its effort to root out illegal immigration and reshape government programs and policies around what it views as more accurate population metrics. Excluding illegal aliens from the census count would have sweeping implications for congressional apportionment, federal funding formulas, and state-level redistricting.

The move echoes efforts made during Trump’s first term, when his administration sought to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census — a plan that was ultimately blocked by the Supreme Court. By launching an entirely new census effort, Trump appears poised to bypass legal hurdles and build a new data framework aligned with his 2024 mandate.

While Trump did not detail the timeline or methodology for the new census, the directive signals a clear shift toward distinguishing between citizens and non-citizens in the population count — a policy long supported by conservatives who argue the current system inflates political power in sanctuary cities and blue states.