How Trump has gutted DEI in his first 100 days

Since assuming office, the Trump administration has upended diversity, equity, and inclusion programs with startling efficiency. Over his first 100 days, President Donald Trump has taken a multipronged approach to derailing DEI initiatives across the federal government, academic institutions, and even the private sector.

Through an array of executive actions, Trump has targeted federal anti-discrimination measures that date back 60 years and threatened to withhold funding from public schools and universities that maintain DEI programs. By explicitly directing federal agencies to investigate private employers, Trump’s orders have also had a chilling effect across corporate America—leading a number of companies to cut back on DEI initiatives or at least create the illusion of doing so.

As each day seems to bring a new DEI-related action or court ruling, it’s clear that undoing the progress many employers and federal institutions have made on equity and inclusion continues to be a core priority for this government. Here’s a closer look at how Trump has chipped away at DEI programs during just his first few months in office:

The federal workforce

Trump has moved swiftly to eliminate DEI programs that are squarely within his purview—namely, reversing the equity requirements that President Joe Biden had put in place during his term. One of Trump’s first edicts was an executive order that forced agencies to eliminate all “illegal DEI” efforts. The order explicitly noted that DEI offices would have to be disbanded and roles like chief diversity officer would have to be terminated. The Trump administration also told federal workers they were required to report anyone who tried to continue DEI work under a different name—or risk “adverse consequences.” 

Since Trump handed down this order in January, federal agencies have cut at least 428 DEI roles and put those workers on administrative leave, according to The New York Times. (That figure only includes data from the agencies that have publicly reported those job cuts.) Some federal workers who were affected by the cuts claimed their roles had little to do with DEI. Others have said that even their employee resource groups were affected as agencies cracked down on DEI to comply with the executive order.

Through other executive actions, Trump reiterated the importance of merit-based hiring across the federal government, and that it “should not be based on impermissible factors, such as one’s commitment to illegal racial discrimination under the guise of ‘equity,’ or one’s commitment to the invented concept of ‘gender identity’ over sex.”

By rescinding an executive order that dates back to 1965, Trump also took aim at a key policy that has been critical to promoting racial equity and curtailing discriminatory hiring practices among federal contractors. For decades, this order has forced the hand of companies that do business with the federal government, compelling them to adopt affirmative action plans that diversified the workforce. With Trump’s action, some of the largest employers in the country are no longer subject to those requirements. 

The education system

In recent weeks, Trump has ramped up pressure on the education system, fixing his sights on some of the most elite universities in the country. The administration is currently in the midst of a very public fight with Harvard University, stripping the school of billions of dollars in federal funding, in part because of its refusal to amend its DEI policies and admissions practices. (A number of other universities have also been singled out by Trump over DEI-related issues and face similar threats to their funding.)

Last week, Trump pushed through an executive action aimed at college accreditors, who he argues have helped impose DEI requirements on universities. Trump’s actions have already pushed many colleges to revise their DEI programs, regardless of whether they have been explicitly targeted: A recent Politico analysis found that more than 30 public universities have either closed their DEI offices or restructured them over the past few years—including the University of Michigan, which was once known for its robust DEI program.

While Trump’s ongoing battle with higher education has garnered more attention, other academic institutions have not escaped scrutiny over their DEI efforts. In a memo earlier this month, the Trump administration ordered all public schools to eliminate DEI programs, again threatening to rescind federal funding. For now, this directive has been blocked by federal judges—and a coalition of attorneys general in Democratic states have brought a lawsuit against the Trump administration. Since taking office, Trump has also mounted investigations into the public school systems in California, Colorado, and Maine over DEI-related concerns like gender-neutral bathrooms and the rights of transgender students.  

The private sector

Beyond the executive order targeting federal contractors, the Trump administration has attempted to exert its influence over the private sector in other ways. In the same action, Trump clearly directed federal agencies to investigate private-sector companies over any DEI programs that “constitute illegal discrimination or preferences.” This edict has sparked fear and confusion among corporate leaders, with many executives reportedly losing sleep over the threat of federal investigations. Experts say that a major source of concern has been the lack of clarity around what might be considered “illegal DEI.”

Trump’s orders have accelerated a shift in corporate America that had already been underway for some time. In the years since the racial reckoning of 2020, many companies have quietly backed away from the DEI initiatives they had seemingly embraced at the time.

Since the Supreme Court overturned affirmative action in 2023, however, employers have taken more drastic action in response to conservative activists like Robby Starbuck, who has waged social media campaigns to pressure companies into cutting their DEI programs. Companies like Walmart and McDonald’s have eliminated certain DEI policies and pulled out of the Human Rights Commission’s Corporate Equality Index, an annual benchmarking survey that measures workplace inclusion for LGBTQ+ workers and is often touted by employers. Even tech giants like Meta and Google have made notable changes to representation goals, which had become common practice across the industry. 

Some DEI experts argue that not all of these changes should be seen as a full-throated rebuke of diversity work. In some cases, employers are merely folding DEI work into other teams or tweaking programs to ensure they are legally sound—not to mention evaluating whether they continue to be effective. “If you see that there’s no longer a DEI title at this company, I think that could be bad news,” Joelle Emerson, the cofounder and CEO of culture and inclusion platform Paradigm, previously told Fast Company. “Or it could be that the company is actually very strategically embedding some of this expertise in ways that are going to have more impact on the business.” In fact, a survey recently conducted by Paradigm found that only a fraction of companies—19%—had actually reduced funding for DEI programs.

Still, plenty of companies are now operating from a place of fear, carefully calibrating their external messaging on DEI and in some cases overcorrecting to avoid litigation or excessive scrutiny from Trump.

The administration’s anti-DEI agenda also seems to be shaping the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s priorities under new acting chair Andrea Lucas, who has issued guidance on what the agency considers “unlawful DEI-related discrimination.” In March, Lucas made a controversial decision to send letters to 20 prominent law firms requesting details on their DEI-related practices—four of which have already reached settlement agreements with the EEOC and agreed to drop the term DEI.