True to his campaign pledge, President Donald Trump is pushing ahead quickly with policies aimed at deemphasizing “wokeness” and “diversity, equity, and inclusion” leftism throughout all agencies of the federal government, including the State Department and the U.S. military.
A day after former Florida Sen. Marco Rubio took over as secretary of state, “the has adopted a new policy under the Trump administration that effectively blocks U.S. embassies and outposts from flying Pride and Black Lives Matter flags, a report said Tuesday.”
The Washington Free Beacon reported that it had obtained a copy of the “One Flag Policy” order, which restricts U.S. facilities at home and abroad to flying only the American flag, with two exceptions: the Prisoner of War/Missing in Action (POW/MIA) emblem and the Wrongful Detainees Flag.
“Starting immediately, only the United States of America flag is authorized to be flown or displayed at U.S. facilities, both domestic and abroad, and featured in U.S. government content,” the memo states, according to the outlet. “The flag of the United States of America united all Americans under the universal principles of justice, liberty, and democracy. These values, which are the bedrock of our great country, are shared by all American citizens, past and present.”
The policy follows four years of controversy during the Biden administration over the display of such flags, sparking extended debates between Democrats and Republicans. Former President Joe Biden faced criticism for flying the Pride flag outside the White House during a Pride Month celebration in 2023 and for a leaked State Department memo in 2021 that encouraged U.S. embassies to display Black Lives Matter flags on the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s death.
Meanwhile, Trump has reversed a Biden-era policy that allowed transgender individuals to serve in the military. Shortly after taking the oath of office on Monday, Trump signed an order revoking former President Joe Biden’s 2021 directive, Enabling All Qualified Americans to Serve Their Country in Uniform.
During his campaign, Trump pledged to reinstate the ban on transgender troops that he implemented during his first term. In his inaugural address, he reaffirmed this stance, stating his administration would formally recognize only two genders: male and female. The new executive order is part of a series of actions Trump has taken to reverse Biden’s policies.
In a statement, the White House called out diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives across the federal government that “has corrupted them by replacing hard work, merit, and equality with a divisive and dangerous preferential hierarchy.” The decision is part of a broader campaign led by Trump and his Secretary of Defense nominee, Pete Hegseth, to eliminate DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) practices within the U.S. military.
Last week, Trump appointed Matthew Lohmeier as the Air Force’s next undersecretary. Lohmeier, a former Space Force lieutenant colonel, was dismissed in 2021 after publicly criticizing the military’s diversity programs and alleging the presence of “Marxism” within its ranks. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., chair of the House Armed Services Committee, praised the move, saying it “is already restoring the focus of our military on lethality by putting an end to woke DEI programs.”
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