On January 20th, 2025, President Donald Trump was elected into office to serve his second term as president of the United States. Since his first days in office following his inauguration, President Trump has had a lengthy DEI agenda on the table. DEI, which stands for diversity, equity, and inclusion, has played a major role in companies through programs with the intention of creating a safer, more inclusive work environment for all. Transforming DEI policies and picking apart certain aspects of the term has been one of Trump’s first actions in the beginning of his presidency. President Trump came in guns blazing, signing an Executive Order the day he took office known as “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing,” according to TIME news magazine. Following this Executive Order, he instructed all federal DEI employees to be put on a paid leave, leading up to their eventual being laid off. As a result of signing the order into action, policies were repealed that stated it was essential for federal employees to advocate for and encourage “affirmative action and diversity programs,” according to TIME news magazine. President Trump’s agenda, known as the Agenda 47 platform, aligns with his goals and promises for the country.
Trump’s actions toward dismantling the DEI programs within federal jobs and other industries in the United States have people scared for how they will be treated, protected, and how their places in society will be affected. DEI programs were created in order to help marginalized communities who have faced inequality, especially in the workplace, according to CNN. Therefore, many believe that Trump’s disassembling of these programs will reverse all the work that has been done throughout the years to create a more inclusive space and set industries back even further in terms of hitting the checkpoints of DEI. One of President Trump’s main objectives in his DEI agenda is to terminate former President Biden’s DEI programs, which he believes to be too progressive and needless. President Trump’s next Executive Order signed into action was on January 21, 2025, known as “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Resorting Merit-Based Opportunity,” according to TIME news magazine. President Trump’s agenda is built on the foundation of dissembling previous programs and orders that have worked to increase DEI and shed light on discrimination. Trump has also ordered any signs or reports of DEI-related codes or activities that are observed, to be reported to the Office of Personnel Management, in an attempt to restrict the use of former DEI programs that President Trump is looking to deconstruct. Additionally, DEI programs and documents have been deleted from the platforms of federal services including the Office of Personnel Management, State Department, along with the Department of Homeland Security.
As a result of President Trump’s agenda, marginalized groups may face the reverberations as they may feel less protected without DEI programs in place, impacting how operations function in the workplace specifically. President Trump’s DEI agenda has a lot of moving parts, some of which are tentative until other changes are made to the programs in place.