The State Department said on Aug. 13 that it has ended the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies implemented at the Foreign Service under former President Joe Biden’s administration.
A review conducted by the State Department found that DEI content had been incorporated in the Foreign Service’s training curricula in multiple ways. The State Department said on Thursday that it removed the ideology from the Foreign Service’s training to “better uphold the highest standards of American diplomacy.”
“The U.S. Department of State has put an end to the ideologically extreme and discriminatory diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) agenda, restoring merit, rigor, and accountability to the Foreign Service and refocusing training on practical diplomatic skills that serve the common interests of the American people,” a State Department official told The Epoch Times on Aug. 13.
Thursday’s announcement came after President Donald Trump issued a memorandum in March 2025 to remove the DEI policies instituted under the Biden administration. The memorandum directed the State Department to revise the 2022–2025 “Decision Criteria for Tenure and Promotion in the Foreign Service” by removing references to “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility.”
A State Department official told The Epoch Times on Thursday that the department was implementing modernization reforms to the Foreign Service.
“America’s diplomats are the nation’s first line of defense against hostile powers, terrorists, deadly narcotics smuggling, illegal immigration, and other threats to the safety, security, and prosperity of the American people,” the official said.
The Epoch Times reached out for comment to the White House, which referred questions to the State Department.
A fact sheet released Thursday by the State Department said that DEI policies were embedded into the Foreign Service’s institutional culture through training curricula and personnel materials under the previous administration.
A State Department review of the Foreign Service’s training curricula found that instructors were given a reading list that included “White Fragility and the Rules of Engagement” and “How White Women Tears Oppress People of Color.” The reading list also included “How to be Anti-Racist in Humanitarian Aid,” “The Case for Reparations,” and “In Defense of Looting.”
Foreign Service instructors were provided an “Inclusivity Guide,” which outlined how to use “non-binary pronouns,” such as “Ze,” “Zir,” and “Zirs,” the department said. The guide also included a pamphlet promoting “international pronoun day.”
The State Department said Foreign Service officers were urged to discuss DEI issues with foreign government officials. Instructors were also provided training toolkits for discussing “systemic racism” and “white privilege” in foreign languages and for conducting a role-playing exercise on “race and racism.”
The department’s review found that a day and a half of DEI instruction was added to the Foreign Service’s five-week orientation course and one day of DEI instruction was added to its five-day Foundations of Public Diplomacy Course.
Additionally, a vocabulary list instructed State Department officials to avoid using terms such as “illegal alien,” which the Biden administration described as a “problematic term.” Officials were also instructed to practice “microaffirmations” to mitigate “microaggressions” or unconscious bias.
“DEI objectives and materials shamefully denigrated the United States, derided Americans of certain backgrounds, and distracted from legitimate foreign policy objectives that serve the American people,” the State Department said.
In March 2025, Trump signed a memorandum directing agency heads to avoid basing Foreign Service recruitment, hiring, promotion, or retention decisions on the “race, color, religion, sex, or national origin” of applicants. It also ordered the removal of “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility” as a core precept of the Foreign Service.
“Under the Trump Administration, America’s diplomats are tasked with advocating for our national interests on the world stage—not demonstrating adherence to woke political dogmas,” State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in an Aug. 13 statement on social media.
The State Department previously announced reforms in April eliminating what it described as “ideological agendas” in the application and orientation processes of the Foreign Service. Under the reforms, applicants are tested on American history, logical reasoning, and foreign policy concepts.
Following the State Department’s announcement, the American Foreign Service Association, a union representing Foreign Service officers, expressed concerns regarding the Trump administration’s reforms. It questioned whether officers would “receive a broad grounding in American foreign policy” or whether the curriculum would be influenced by “ideological concerns.”
“We also take issue with the claim that the previous test included ‘questions intended to test alignment with ideological agendas,’” the American Foreign Service Association said in a statement. “We see a far greater risk that political ideology could now be introduced into the selection process.”
