Here are the people Trump doesn’t want to exist
Overview & Context
⚠️ In this June 29, 2025 interactive report, The Washington Post reveals a sweeping purge of federal records by the Trump administration—including Defense Department photos, DEI content, and public data sets—designed to minimize documentation of marginalized communities.
🧾 What Was Deleted
- Roughly 26,000 DEI-related images were removed from Defense Department websites—80% depicted women, people of color, LGBTQ+, and other marginalized groups.
- Agencies purged thousands of federal webpages and datasets, especially those tied to DEI, environmental policy, public health, and social services.
- Shifted to restrictive language policies; terms like “climate change,” “LGBTQ+,” and “indigenous” were scrubbed from public communications.
⚙️ Methods & Implications
- Coordinated “digital content refreshes” under Trump orders, led by Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon.
- Extensive use of automated or AI-assisted tools resulted in overreach—e.g. deletion of web pages on Jackie Robinson and Navajo code talkers.
- The purge challenges compliance with the Federal Records Act, shrinks public access to government data, and effectively erases visibility of marginalized histories.
🌍 Why It Matters
- Undermines public trust by obscuring decisions related to health, environment, social equity, and historical memory.
- Joins broader Trump-era efforts to reconfigure federal transparency, such as instructing staff to cease written communication.
- Legal and scholarly monitoring groups warn of authoritarian tactics, likening them to historical erasures seen in closed regimes.
📚 Citation
The Washington Post. (2025, June 29). Trump Administration Scrubs Government Records, Photos, and Data. Opinion Interactive. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/interactive/2025/trump-deletions-government-records-defense-photos/
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