President Trump said Thursday morning he has ordered the Commerce Department to begin working on a new census, emphasizing that those who are in the country illegally will not be counted in the total. 

“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 wrote in a Thursday morning post on Truth Social. 

“People who are in our Country illegally WILL NOT BE COUNTED IN THE CENSUS. Thank you for your attention to this matter,” the president added. 

The Hill has reached out to the Commerce Department for comment. 

Trump’s order comes as he has pushed Republican-leaning states to outline new congressional maps that would be more favorable to GOP House candidates before the 2026 midterms. Texas in particular has made national headlines in recent weeks as the president said the GOP is “entitled” to gain at least five House seats in next year’s election.

A census is required every 10 years as outlined in the Constitution. It is designed to count every resident in the U.S., according to its website. 

The data gathered in the census determines the number of House seats each state has, and it is also utilized to help dish out hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funding to local communities. 

“The census tells us who we are and where we are going as a nation and helps our communities determine where to build everything from schools to supermarkets, and from homes to hospitals,” the Census Bureau said.