Corporate Silence on DEI Will Grow Louder Under Trump 2.0

From business tariffs to regulatory overhauls and anti-immigration policies, the cloud of Donald Trump’s second presidency looms large over U.S. and global businesses.

One department has already been weathering a public storm under atmospheric pressure from conservative activists: corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

At Adcolor’s annual conference in Los Angeles last month, members of the ad industry told ADWEEK they were determined to reverse politicized thinking around DEI, positioning it as an all-inclusive growth lever.

However, for the CEOs and CMOs whom agencies serve, DEI communications will only get more complicated in the era of Trump 2.0 as executives shy away from activist leadership to avoid alienating already divided consumers.

Walmart is the latest (and largest) brand to rollback its DEI initiatives, announcing last week it would no longer use the term “DEI” in official communications nor consider gender and race when offering contracts to suppliers.

Jeannette Nagy, CEO of crisis communications consultancy Clifftide, has seen an uptick in CEOs seeking guidance around addressing DEI issues this year, something she attributes to political polarization and evolving stakeholder expectations.

She says crisis-driven sensitivity, i.e. how inclusive campaigns from brands like Jaguar, Bud Light, or Walgreens subsidiary Boots can become a lightning rod for controversy and conservative backlash, is also to blame.

The rise and fall of activist leadership

Back in 2018, under the previous Trump administration, CEO activism was the trend du jour. Former PayPal boss Dan Schulman took a stand against gendered bathroom rules in North Carolina, while others, like Apple’s Tim Cook and Howard Schultz, formerly of Starbucks, spoke publicly on everything from LGBTQ+ rights to racial inequality.

Public commitments to DEI became all the more prevalent in 2020 after George Floyd’s murder sparked nationwide protests against racial inequality.

This time around, however, CEOs have been “reactive rather than proactive” in their communications about Trump’s second win, Nagy observed.

“While some leaders have taken steps to prepare for increased polarization, many are hesitant to address Trump-era implications directly due to fears of alienating stakeholders,” she added. “This hesitation can leave a vacuum, allowing external narratives to dominate.”

Trump already has some notable bosses on his side, most famously X owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, whose support has earned him a place as the politician’s efficiency czar. Others, particularly those with reason to fear retribution from the president-elect, were congratulatory versus contemptuous toward Trump after his win.