By Eliza Collins and Elizabeth Findell

Some of President Trump's Black and Latino supporters say they are pleased with his immediate efforts to dismantle federal diversity, equity and inclusion programs, according to interviews conducted by The Wall Street Journal, though they were uneasy about the way he talked about race and some worried he might spark a rise in discrimination.

Ending so-called DEI programs -- which include efforts to foster a more diverse workforce -- was a frequent promise by Trump during the campaign, during which he broadly picked up a higher share of support from nonwhite voters than in his 2020 and 2016 bids.

Since taking office, Trump has made slashing DEI programs a priority, signing executive orders to eliminate programs within the federal government and ordering up lists of federal employees involved in those efforts. He also revoked a six-decade-old executive order that requires government contractors to proactively root out discrimination on the basis of race and sex.

Federal agencies have scrambled to adjust to the new directives, and some private companies have followed suit.

"I'm very happy that DEI is hopefully going to disappear starting from the government and hopefully it'll catch on," said George Ortiz, a 52-year-old high-end furniture upholsterer from Chicago, who is Latino. He said he tells his children they need to earn jobs based on merit, not because of diversity initiatives.

While Democrats Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won nonwhite voters in both the 2020 and 2024 elections, Trump in 2024 saw an 8 percentage point increase with Black and Latino voters, as well as a 5 percentage point jump in support from Asian voters, according to the election survey AP VoteCast.

Nonwhite voters made up nearly a quarter of the national electorate during last year's election, according to AP VoteCast, and more in some battleground states.

While Trump cannot run for re-election in 2028, Republicans are eager to keep these voters to hold their majorities in the House and Senate during the 2026 midterm elections and the White House two years later.

The Journal interviewed several nonwhite voters who backed Trump who said they are, at times, uncomfortable with the way he has talked about diversity. In particular, some cited how he blamed diversity hiring efforts for the recent deadly airplane-helicopter collision near Washington, D.C. And some said they were disturbed by the wide scope of deportations of migrants in the country illegally, which Trump had promised to step up.

After the Washington, D.C., plane crash that killed 67 people, Trump asserted that the Federal Aviation Administration had changed its recruiting standards under former President Joe Biden to adhere to a diversity focus. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg disputed the comments and called them "despicable."

Elaysha Ramos, a 24-year-old Rochester, N.Y., resident, said Trump's comments were "yellow flags" but said she didn't regret backing him -- as of now. Ramos voted for Biden in 2020 in part because of what she said was increased awareness of racism, sexism and antigay views following a year of protests, including those for George Floyd, a Black man killed by police.

But by the end of Biden's presidency, Ramos, who is Latina, felt the country had gone too far and "it became anything you said was racist, or homophobic or sexist or bigoted." More important to her, the cost of living had increased, and she was dejected as she watched illegal immigration surge. She started giving her struggling grandfather about a fourth of her monthly take-home pay of $2,400 from her work at a call center, and switched her vote Republican.

While she is supportive of Trump's ending of DEI programs, she worries his blaming diversity efforts, as well as his deportation effort, could increase discrimination against Latinos and enable what she described as his most extreme supporters.

"A lot of those people are racist, sexist and homophobic," she said, adding she didn't think Trump fell into those categories. "I think that him being president and saying the stuff he's saying...I feel like we're going to get a rise in more people doing [hate] crimes."

For Ramos and others the Journal spoke to, Trump's comments about race could be put aside if he is able to come through on other campaign promises, particularly his vow to lower prices. Ramos's support of the president was contingent on him bringing her cost of living down. She gave him a few months to use tariffs as a negotiating tool but needed to see lower prices before summer.

Rich Hyatt, 65, a Snowflake, Ariz. resident who is Black, dismissed concerns over Trump's comments about the plane crash, arguing he was merely saying the country needed more air-traffic controllers.

Hyatt said hiring people based on skills was critical in the three decades he spent as a firefighter. He said the one time physical entry exams were waived to recruit more women, it backfired because they wasted time in basic training and didn't ultimately become firefighters. "They set up these people for failure," he said.

Hyatt was optimistic about Trump using tariffs as a negotiating tool to bring down costs and get more help on dealing with immigration. "I don't think that America is used to playing hardball like he does," he said.

Victoria Evans, 35, a home health aide from Stafford, Va., who is Black, said she feels like DEI programs are racist because they single people out instead of letting the best people be hired.

And she feels the country has become too "woke." Still, Evans said Trump shouldn't have blamed the plane crash on the programs without evidence.

"When he said that on TV, I thought that was crazy because that is your opinion," she said. "We can't just say our views, we need to speak facts."

She said she doesn't regret her vote for Trump because she thought he had more detailed plans to improve the country than Harris did -- even though Evans doesn't agree with everything Trump says.

For some nonwhite voters who opposed Trump, his actions are terrifying but not surprising. Rebecca Denis, 34, a Phoenix resident who is Latina, until recently was a community organizer for a social justice nonprofit. Denis said she figured Trump would win Arizona, a key battleground, despite her efforts to convince her family and friends against voting for him.

"It's just the jarring reality that it's here," the Harris voter said. "I'm super-concerned about this attack on anything that feels like, to me: if you are not a white, straight man, you are less than."

Ammon Perea, a 32-year-old Latino living near Denver, said he voted for Trump in November after not previously being a fan. He said he is disturbed by Trump's mass deportation efforts and his blaming the D.C. crash on DEI, fearing the latter could become an excuse for racism.

But he has been happy with the president's moves to slash the size of the federal government and eliminate many programs -- including DEI.

"Merit should be literally the only thing that matters," said Perea, an EMT.

Write to Eliza Collins at eliza.collins@wsj.com and Elizabeth Findell at elizabeth.findell@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 09, 2025 05:00 ET (10:00 GMT)

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