US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has very strong feelings about the typeface used in his department, and has demanded that diplomats dump Calibri and return to Times New Roman, according to a memo obtained by The New York Times.
Rubio calls Calibri “informal” compared to Times New Roman, which is a more traditional, serif font. He claims it clashes with the department’s official letterhead and that reverting to Times New Roman will “restore decorum and professionalism to the department’s written work.”
For the record, Calibri is no Comic Sans. It replaced Times New Roman as the standard in Microsoft Office in 2007, and offers a more modern, yet professional look. (Times New Roman’s roots go back to 1923.) However, the State Department continued to use Times New Roman until 2023, when then-Secretary of State Anthony Blinken made the switch with a memo titled “The Times (New Roman) are a-Changin,” according to The Washington Post.
The move was a recommendation from Blinken’s office of diversity and inclusion, with the goal of making it easier for people with disabilities to read department documents on screen readers and other assistive technologies.
The issue boils down to serifs, or a small decorative line attached to letters in fonts like Times New Roman. Some experts say this makes the letters more difficult to read, while others argue they improve readability. The word “Ill,” (ill) for example, looks like the same three letters when capitalized, and is more distinguishable with the extra detail. Calibri is also a more spaced, open font, which could make it easier to read, though it also lengthens the size of documents.
In his memo, titled “Return to Tradition: Times New Roman 14-Point Font Required for All Department Paper,” Rubio admits that the switch to Calibri “was not among the department’s most illegal, immoral, radical or wasteful instances of DEIA [diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility].” But he contends that it “achieved nothing except the degradation of the department’s official correspondence.”
Recommended by Our Editors
Upon returning to office in January, President Trump immediately targeted DEI initiatives with an executive order that called them “radical and wasteful.”
Trump, who has made some interesting style choices at the White House lately, has also called for more classical architecture in Washington, DC, citing the importance of civic buildings to the founding fathers, who never had the chance to fight about fonts.
Get Our Best Stories!
Your Daily Dose of Our Top Tech News
Sign up for our What’s New Now newsletter to receive the latest news, best new products, and expert advice from the editors of PCMag.
Sign up for our What’s New Now newsletter to receive the latest news, best new products, and expert advice from the editors of PCMag.
By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy
Policy.
Thanks for signing up!
Your subscription has been confirmed. Keep an eye on your inbox!
About Our Expert
Emily Forlini
Senior Reporter
Experience
As a news and features writer at PCMag, I cover the biggest tech trends that shape the way we live and work. I specialize in on-the-ground reporting, uncovering stories from the people who are at the center of change—whether that’s the CEO of a high-valued startup or an everyday person taking on Big Tech. I also cover daily tech news and breaking stories, contextualizing them so you get the full picture.
I came to journalism from a previous career working in Big Tech on the West Coast. That experience gave me an up-close view of how software works and how business strategies shift over time. Now that I have my master’s in journalism from Northwestern University, I couple my insider knowledge and reporting chops to help answer the big question: Where is this all going?
Read Full Bio
