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DEI and woke ideology are on life support under Trump’s return to DC, but could come roaring back with rebrand
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President Donald Trump’s early second-term blitz against «woke» ideology, including diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, have rippled far beyond Washington, D.C., as companies roll back such policies.
But the left-wing credos could come roaring back to public view under a rebranding, the president of American Principles Project (APP) told Fox News Digital.
«DEI is still alive. It’s not dead yet. It’s bleeding, right? We’ve got blood here, but we know it’s vulnerable,» Terry Schilling, the president of conservative nonprofit and advocacy group the American Principles Project, told Fox News Digital in a December Zoom interview. «But they’re still in charge of the admissions offices and colleges. They’re still in charge of HR departments, and they’re still largely a part of Silicon Valley.»
American Principles Project has documented the cultural shifts in recent years to embrace DEI initiatives, which conservatives argue replace merit with race and identity preferences that effectively penalize some Americans at work and at school through the expansion of bureaucracy and ideological pressure. Schilling said that while the «woke» push seen under the Biden era is retreating under the Trump administration, it is still alive and could make a return.
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«DEI is retreating,» Schilling said in the interview. «But I think that it’s important that we recognize that DEA is not disbanding, it’s rebranding.»
But the left-wing DEI credos could come roaring back to public view under a rebranding, the president of American Principles Project (APP) told Fox News Digital. (iStock )
Trump swiftly moved to drop the hammer on DEI and woke initiatives upon his return to office in January, including signing an executive order on day one, titled «Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing,» which directed federal agencies to stamp out DEI-style programs across the federal government. The following day, Trump signed a second order aimed at «restoring merit-based opportunity,» including changes for federal contracting and related compliance.
«We’ve ended the tyranny of so-called Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies all across the entire federal government and indeed the private sector and our military. And our country will be woke no longer,» Trump said from the dais in Congress in March, celebrating his administration’s achievement just a few months into the job.
Schilling said Trump turned DEI on its head upon his return to the Oval Office, pointing to his executive orders as death knells heard at the highest echelons of corporate America down to public school classrooms.
«Trump winning the election had a lot to do with this,» Schilling said. «You’re seeing all these CEOs of major tech companies and companies abroad coming to the White House, kissing the ring. They know who’s in power and they’re willing to make deals to get their projects over the finish line. And that’s all great. We should use that. We should us that momentum to further cement opposition to DEI.»
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Silicon Valley has long been viewed and criticized as a powerful weapon used to silence conservatives — such as when social media platforms suppressed news reports on former first son Hunter Biden’s laptop ahead of the 2020 election — with top tech CEOs signaling a Trump-era pivot this year as they work to ink deals to expand their businesses amid the artificial intelligence boom.
President Donald Trump swiftly moved to drop the hammer on DEI and woke initiatives upon his return to office in January. (Alex Brandon/The Associated Press )
«President Trump’s executive orders did so much to cut back against DEI, banning DEI throughout the entire federal workforce, banning schools from using and tying federal funds to whether or not schools are implementing racist policies like DEI has done a lot to curb it,» Schilling said.
«However, these guys are lying in wait,» he added.
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Massive American staple company Target announced the conclusion of DEI goals after a three-year initiative, while Disney also made changes such as removing DEI-related terms from its annual business reports. Cracker Barrel, after a bruising backlash to its branding overhaul earlier in 2025, scrapped remodel plans and reverted to its old logo, with Fox Digital previously reporting the chain eliminated DEI programs as part of its latest changes.
«DEI is an employment issue,» Schilling said. «It’s keeping a large amount of Americans who deserve to have good lives and good incomes out of the workforce simply because they have the wrong color of skin.»
Democrats generally support DEI policies as they see them as a way to expand opportunity and reduce discrimination in hiring, promotion and education, especially for groups they argue have faced historic barriers. Left-wing lawmakers stretching from members of the Congressional Black Caucus to Democrat 2025 political candidates, such as New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, have slammed or campaigned against Trump’s roll-back of DEI policies.
Diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives have been the subject of heated opinions of praise and rebuke. (Adobe Stock)
Schilling warned that upcoming elections could undo the progress Trump has made in eliminating DEI policies at the federal level, pointing to the 2028 presidential election.
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«They are lying in wait for the next Democrat president like Gavin Newsom, like JB Pritzker. There’s really no doubt that if another Democrat gets into office, they’re not just going to undo everything President Trump did to curb all the racism through DEI programs. They going to ramp it up. They gonna do it even more so than Barack Obama did and Joe Biden did. So we’ve got to continue to fight this,» Schilling said.
The American Principles Project president continued that ending DEI and woke ideology for good requires conservative Republicans winning elections and conservative voters to talk with their feet with boycotts if a corporation leans into promoting left-wing policies, underscoring DEI is an economic issue, in addition to a cultural one.
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«If we really want to save the future, DEI must be killed, because it’s not just about the culture, it’s just not about racism,» he said. «It’s so much more. It’s the economy, it’s the future of America, it’s our families, it is our children, and so we really need to remain eternally vigilant until it’s obvious that DEI is never coming back.»
donald trump,woke,dei,economy
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Neither the US nor Israel will ‘succeed in replacing the Iranian regime,’ retired US general says
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A retired U.S. general predicted that «neither Israel nor the U.S. will fully succeed in replacing the Iranian regime.»
Former Lt. Gen. Mark Schwartz was quoted by the Israel Hayom newspaper as making the remark. The joint U.S. and Israeli missions against Iran, named Operation Epic Fury and Operation Roaring Lion, are in their 20th day Thursday.
«In my professional assessment, neither Israel nor the U.S. will fully succeed in replacing the Iranian regime. The main reason is that there are dozens, if not hundreds, of Iranian religious leaders who can replace the Supreme Leader, the Ayatollah, if he is eliminated,» Schwartz told Israel Hayom.
«No matter how many successors you kill one after another, there will always be another one in line. Iran’s intelligence and security apparatus, the Revolutionary Guards, and the Iranian military also have depth. They are capable of replacing the top of the organization if it is destroyed,» he reportedly added.
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Retired Lt. Gen. Mark Schwartz, left, and Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, right. (U.S. State Department; Rouhollah Vahdati/ISNA/WANA via Reuters)
Schwartz is a career Green Beret who served in the U.S. Army for 33 years, according to The National Special Forces Green Beret Memorial, where he is the chairman of the advisory board.
The organization said, «During his career, Mark served throughout the Middle East, Europe, and North Africa,» and, «He has had the opportunity to lead strategic planning and operations working with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the United Nations, the European Union, and the United States Agency for International Development.»
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Recent footage shared by U.S. Central Command showed strikes against airplanes during the Iran war. (U.S. Central Command on X)
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard had warned Wednesday that if the Iranian regime survives Operation Epic Fury, «it will likely seek to begin a yearslong effort to rebuild its military, missiles and UAV forces.»
Gabbard also said the intelligence community «assesses that Operation Epic Fury is advancing fundamental change in the region that began with Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7th, 2023, and continued with the 12-day war last year, resulting in weakening Iran and its proxies.»
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed at the beginning of Operation Epic Fury on Feb. 28, 2026. ( Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran via Getty Images)
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The campaign so far has resulted in the killing of former Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has been replaced by his son, Mojtaba Khamenei.
war with iran,iran,israel,conflicts,middle east,military,world
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U.S. officials detected unidentified drones near a military installation in Washington, D.C., where top administration officials reportedly have been housed, as security concerns mount amid escalating tensions in the Middle East and with Iran.
Multiple drones were spotted in recent days near Fort Lesley J. McNair, where Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth are living, The Washington Post reported, citing people briefed on the situation. The origin of the drones has not been determined.
The base, located in Southwest Washington, D.C., houses the National Defense University and senior military leadership. It also reportedly has been used to accommodate high-level administration officials amid elevated security concerns.
Officials with Joint Task Force–National Capital Region and the U.S. Army Military District of Washington said they are aware of the reported drone sightings.
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«We are aware of the reported drone sightings near Fort McNair and the surrounding areas,» Heather Chairez, media chief for Joint Task Force–National Capital Region and the U.S. Army Military District of Washington, told Fox News Digital Thursday. «We are working with our law enforcement and interagency partners to monitor and investigate the reported sightings.»
«Our top priority is the safety of our service members and civilian personnel that work and live on the base,» she added. «Currently there is no credible threat to Fort McNair, but we will continue to monitor the situation and adjust force protection measures as needed.»
A growing number of top officials, including Rubio and Hegseth, have moved into military housing in the Washington area, according to multiple reports, a shift that is unusual and has few modern precedents for civilian political appointees.
Fox News has not independently confirmed Rubio and Hegseth live at McNair.
The reported sightings come as the United States has heightened security measures at military installations and diplomatic posts following ongoing U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, raising concerns about potential retaliation and attacks on U.S. troops.
Iran increasingly has relied on drones as a central component of its military strategy, deploying unmanned systems and supporting proxy forces across the Middle East in attacks on U.S. and allied targets.
During the opening phase of Operation Epic Fury, an Iranian drone strike in Kuwait killed six U.S. service members, underscoring concerns among defense officials about the growing threat posed by unmanned systems.
Senate Democrats are planning to grind the Senate to a halt unless Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Secretary of War Marco Rubio testify publicly on the war in Iran. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)
Several U.S. bases have elevated force protection levels in recent days, including Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey and MacDill Air Force Base in Florida, which is home to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).
MacDill, which serves as the headquarters for CENTCOM and oversees all U.S. military operations in the Middle East, also has experienced multiple recent security incidents that prompted temporary lockdowns, according to base officials. Officials did not detail the nature of the threat but said they «take all threats seriously and will continue to prioritize the safety and security of our installation, our mission and our people.»
The State Department also has directed diplomatic posts worldwide to review and strengthen security measures in response to an evolving threat environment.
FPV training drones are seen on a wall at the Killhouse Academy drone training center on March 4, 2026, in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
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U.S. officials have not publicly identified the source or intent behind the drone activity near the nation’s capital, and it remains unclear whether the incidents are connected to broader geopolitical tensions.
U.S. law enforcement agencies also have been placed on heightened alert in recent weeks following a federal warning about intercepted communications believed to be of Iranian origin that could serve as a potential trigger for sleeper assets abroad, though officials said there was no specific or imminent threat tied to the alert.
Earlier in March, an FBI advisory referenced unverified intelligence suggesting Iran had explored launching drones from offshore platforms near California, though officials stressed the information was aspirational and not tied to any imminent threat.
Plumes of smoke rise following reported explosions in Tehran, Iran, on March 2, 2026. (Sohrab/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
Experts say that while Iran has invested heavily in drone warfare abroad, the more plausible risk inside the United States would involve small, commercially available drones rather than large military systems.
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Unauthorized drone incursions near sensitive government and military sites are typically monitored and assessed by multiple federal agencies, including the Department of War, federal law enforcement and aviation authorities.
The Pentagon and State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
army,pete hegseth,marco rubio,war with iran,drones,washington dc,pentagon,state department
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