Since the start of 2025, many prominent big tech companies have publicly scaled back their DEI programs, in response to shifting requirements by the US government. Within days of taking office, President Trump signed an executive order prohibiting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies within federal departments and sending a message and demanded civil investigations into companies that have such programs in place.
the former US president said institutions including law firms, universities and businesses that have changed course during the Trump administration should have stood by their convictions. Instead of bending to the administration, Obama noted that universities should say: This will hurt if we lose some grant money in the federal government, but that's what endowments are for. Let's see if we can ride this out, because what we're not going to do is compromise our basic academic independence.