By Lindsay Ellis and Alex Leary

WASHINGTON -- In the packed agenda President Trump has raced to push through, few things stand out more at the end of his second week than his war on DEI, the diversity programs he eliminated through executive action and blamed for the midair aviation crash that killed 67 people.

"I have common sense and unfortunately a lot of people don't," Trump said the morning after the crash, when pressed on why he linked the tragedy over the Potomac River with diversity hiring initiatives. His comments summed up his approach to DEI, which he sees as a clear-cut symbol of liberalism run amok.

Trump came into office promising to transform the economy and challenge the global order -- and he moved swiftly on that agenda as well. But his focus on DEI reflects his desire to put at the center of his presidency the culture wars that animate his conservative base.

His efforts represent the culmination of years of GOP focus on diversity initiatives, a blockbuster Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action, shifting public opinion and the influence of powerful Trump allies, including billionaire Elon Musk. "DEI is just another word for racism," Musk wrote last year on X, his social-media platform.

Since he took office 11 days ago, Trump has ordered federal agencies to terminate diversity programs and contracts. Trump administration officials have set up a tip line to report staff who aren't complying with the administration's directives and push them out of the workforce. The Office of Personnel Management this week mandated that bathrooms in government agencies must be designated by biological sex, not gender identity. Agency leaders have been told that affinity groups for employees -- like those focused on Black or LGBTQ staff -- cannot meet during work hours. Government employees have been ordered to remove gender pronouns from their email signatures.

"People should not be hired based on their disabilities, based on their skin color, their gender, their race. None of that matters," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Friday.

Trump hasn't provided evidence for his suggestion that DEI programs in the military or the Federal Aviation Administration are to blame for Wednesday's crash, which was the deadliest aviation disaster in the U.S. in more than two decades.

Trump often goes on the offensive during times of crisis and looks to assign blame, according to people who know him. This time, he pointed the finger at prominent Democrats, including Barack Obama, Joe Biden and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. "We put safety first," Buttigieg wrote on X of his time leading the department.

Other influential anti-DEI advocates advising Trump include deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, who as head of the conservative group America First Legal filed lawsuits against companies over diversity initiatives. Harmeet Dhillon, Trump's nominee as assistant attorney general for civil rights, has a history of "suing corporations who use woke policies to discriminate against their workers," Trump said in announcing the nomination.

Battle lines are being drawn over some of his actions.

On Friday a group of Democratic state attorneys general, including those from California and New York, accused Trump of misleading the public. "These policies and programs are not only consistent with state and federal antidiscrimination laws, they foster environments where everyone has an opportunity to succeed. That is the opposite of discrimination," they said in a statement.

Some aviation-industry professionals see diversity initiatives as one way to address looming labor shortages. A Boeing report found that the industry needs 674,000 new pilots and 716,000 new maintenance technicians for the commercial fleet in the next 20 years. Federal Aviation Administration and corporate staff have for years visited college campuses to drum up interest in the field.

"We do everything based on merit," said Manuel Muñoz, a pilot and the treasurer and finance director of Latin Professionals in Aerospace, which provides scholarships and networking opportunities for Latinos in the industry. "We're just trying to help our community out."

The FAA has had an internship program focused on providing opportunities to Black, Asian, Hispanic and other underrepresented students. A webpage advertising that program is no longer hosted on the agency's website.

Conservatives have highlighted the government's diversity push this week in response to the collision between the American Airlines flight 5342 and an Army Black Hawk helicopter. Allies of Trump, including Musk, also pointed to diversity hiring in response to the California wildfires that tore through Los Angeles. "They prioritized DEI over saving lives and homes," Musk asserted without evidence, pointing to a racial equity plan from the city's fire department. In the fire department's 2023 strategic plan, the top-ranked goal was to deliver exceptional public safety services, listed above embracing diversity.

Since the crash, donations have flooded in to the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals, which issued $1.1 million in scholarships last year, said Tennesse Garvey, who chairs the group's board of directors. Four percent of commercial pilots are Black, he said.

Last year, as the GOP primary got under way, it was Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, not Trump, leading the charge on cultural issues. DeSantis declared himself an enemy of "woke" policies and gained national attention for his battle with Disney, after the company criticized a state law banning classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation for schoolchildren through grade three and limiting it for older students.

As the presidential campaign continued, Trump began to weigh in more heavily on cultural issues and sometimes seemed surprised at how animating they were to conservative voters. Some of the loudest cheers he received at rallies came when he pledged to "keep men out of women's sports." By the time he defeated DeSantis and other GOP challengers, Trump had DEI firmly in the crosshairs. Trump's advisers say his actions over the past two weeks reflect him honoring campaign promises.

"People just want America to be a meritocracy," said Trump pollster Jim McLaughlin. "We would hear in focus groups people saying you should just hire the best person."

Companies rushed to place chief diversity officers into the C-suite after the 2020 killing of George Floyd. Three out of four companies in the S&P 500 employed someone in that role in 2022, compared with less than half in 2018, according to executive-search firm Russell Reynolds.

But the 2023 Supreme Court ruling striking down affirmative action in college admissions chilled such efforts as conservative activists challenged corporate policies. Companies including Ford, UBS and Walmart retreated from their diversity goals -- a trend that has accelerated since Trump's defeat of Biden.

"It will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders," Trump said during his inaugural address. "Male and female."

Write to Lindsay Ellis at lindsay.ellis@wsj.com and Alex Leary at alex.leary@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 31, 2025 19:39 ET (00:39 GMT)

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