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# Target is ending its diversity goals as a strong DEI opponent occupies the White House
## Discount store chain Target says it’s joining rival Walmart and a number of other prominent American brands in scaling back corporate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives
* By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO - AP Retail Writer
* Jan 24, 2025
  Updated
  3 hrs ago
Mario Tama/Getty Images via CNN Newsource
NEW YORK (AP) — Discount store chain  said Friday that it would join rival Walmart and a number of other prominent American brands in scaling back  initiatives that have come under attack from conservative activists and, as of this week, .
The Minneapolis-based retailer said the changes to its “Belonging at the Bullseye” strategy would include ending a  to help Black employees build meaningful careers, improve the experience of Black shoppers and to promote  following the  in 2020.
Target, which  nationwide and employs more than 400,000 people, said it already had planned to end the racial program this year. The company said Friday that it also would conclude the diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, goals it previously set .
The goals included hiring and promoting more women and members of racial minority groups, and recruiting more diverse suppliers, including businesses owned by people of color, women, LGBTQ+ people, veterans and people with disabilities.
Target has long been a fierce corporate advocate for the rights of Black and LGBTQ+ people. In a memo to employees, Kiera Fernandez, Target’s chief community impact and equity officer, described the DEI decisions as a “next chapter” in the company's decades-long process to create “inclusive work and guest environments that welcome all.”
“Many years of data, insights, listening and learning have been shaping this next chapter in our strategy,” Fernandez wrote in the memo, which Target shared Friday. “And as a retailer that serves millions of consumers every day, we understand the importance of staying in step with the evolving external landscape, now and in the future.”
There's no doubt the U.S. civil rights landscape has undergone a massive transformation in the five years since  adopted DEI goals in response to the  that followed Floyd's death in Minneapolis.
A 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision that outlawed affirmative action in college admissions emboldened  targeting corporate initiatives such as employee resource groups and hiring practices that prioritize historically marginalized groups.
, , Ford, Harley-Davison and  are among the  that reduced or phased out their DEI commitments in recent months.
President Donald Trump this week signaled his administration's agreement with conservatives who argue that policies designed to increase minority representation by considering factors such as race, gender and  are unconstitutional.
On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order aimed at ending DEI programs across the federal government. The order calls for , policies, preferences and activities, along with the review and revision of existing employment practices, union contracts, and training policies or programs.
Still, some prominent companies have resisted public pressure to retreat from their diversity plans. On Thursday,  shareholders rejected a proposal urging the wholesale club operator to evaluate any risks posed by its  practices.
According to preliminary results shared by Costco executives, more than 98% of shares voted against the proposal submitted by a conservative think tank based in Washington. Costco’s board of directors had recommended a no vote.
Apple's board and the CEO of JPMorgan bank also have expressed a commitment to preserving their companies' DEI activities.
Unlike some of the companies retooling or retiring their diversity initiatives, Target's work to  predated 2020, and the company also was long seen as a trailblazer with respect to LGBTQ+ inclusion.
But the employee memo shared Friday said Target no longer would participate in surveys designed to gauge the effectiveness of its actions, including an annual index compiled by the Human Rights Campaign, a national LGBTQ+ rights organization. Target said it would further evaluate corporate partnerships to ensure they’re connected directly to business objectives, but declined to share details.
Getting corporations to withdraw from the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index and to stop sponsoring Pride activities have been goals of DEI opponents.
Steering clear of a backlash from conservative customers and organizations is something that Target has tried to navigate for a while. As transgender rights became a more prominent issue in 2016, the company declared that “inclusivity is a core belief at Target” and said it supported transgender employees and customers using whichever restroom or fitting room “corresponds with their gender identity.”
But after some customers threatened to boycott Target stores, the company said that more stores would make available a single-toilet bathroom with a door that could be locked.
In 2023,  some of its Pride Month merchandise after  and in-store confrontations that the retailer said threatened employees’ well-being. The company decided last year not to stock  products at every U.S. store.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Kinston Regional Jetport on November 3, 2024 in Kinston, North Carolina. With only two days until the election, Trump is campaigning for re-election on Sunday in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia.
* Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images via CNN Newsource
# Trump proposes 'getting rid of FEMA' while visiting North Carolina
## President Donald Trump says he is considering “getting rid of” the Federal Emergency Management Agency
* By WILL WEISSERT, CHRIS MEGERIAN and MAKIYA SEMINERA - Associated Press
  4 hrs ago
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images via CNN Newsource
SWANNANOA, N.C. (AP) — President  said he was considering “getting rid of” the Federal Emergency Management Agency during a trip to disaster zones Friday, offering the latest sign of how he is weighing sweeping changes to the nation's central organization for responding to disasters.
Instead of having federal financial assistance flow through FEMA, the Republican president said Washington could provide money directly to the states. He made the comments while visiting , which is still recovering months after Hurricane Helene, on the first trip of his second term.
“FEMA has been a very big disappointment," the Republican president said. “It’s very bureaucratic. And it’s very slow."
Trump said Michael Whatley, a North Carolina native and chair of the Republican National Committee, would help coordinate recovery efforts in the state, where frustrations over the federal response have lingered. Although Whatley does not hold an official government position, Trump said he would be “very much in charge.”
While the president emphasized his desire to help North Carolina, a battleground state that's voted for him in all of his presidential campaigns, he was much less generous toward California, where he plans to visit  Los Angeles later in the day.
Trump reiterated that he wants to extract concessions from the Democratic-led state in return for disaster assistance, including changes to water policies and requirements that voters need to show identification when casting ballots.
Beyond Trump's criticism of FEMA, he's suggested limiting the federal government's role in responding to disasters, echoing comments from conservative allies who have proposed reducing funding and responsibility.
“I’d like to see the states take care of disasters," he said after landing in the Asheville area. “Let the state take care of the tornadoes and the hurricanes and all of the other things that happen.”
Trump, who was accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, said that would be quicker and cheaper than sending in FEMA.
“FEMA just hasn’t done the job," the president said. "We’re looking at the whole concept of FEMA.”
 to disasters when local leaders request a presidential emergency declaration, a signal that the damage is beyond the state's ability to handle on its own. FEMA can reimburse governments for recovery efforts such as debris removal, and it gives stopgap financial assistance to individual residents.
Trump  former President  for his administration’s response to Helene in North Carolina. As he left the White House on Friday morning, he told reporters that “it’s been a horrible thing the way that’s been allowed to fester” since the storm hit in September, and “we’re going to get it fixed up.”
After a briefing on recovery efforts, Trump traveled to a small town outside Asheville to meet with residents who have been helped by Samaritan’s Purse, a humanitarian organization headed by evangelical leader Franklin Graham. The residents told him about wading through waist-deep water to escape from their homes while fearing for their lives. Some have battled with insurance companies to get their losses covered.
“We’ve come to North Carolina with a simple message," Trump said. “You are not forgotten any longer. You were treated very badly by the previous administration.”
“This is our president," one woman told him. "We appreciate you so much”
FEMA has distributed $319 million in financial assistance to residents, but that hasn't alleviated the feeling of abandonment among residents who are struggling to rebuild their lives.
Laurie Carpenter, a 62-year-old retiree in Newland, North Carolina, said there’s still debris and trash strewn around her part of the state. She was looking forward to Trump's visit because she’s been disappointed by the federal response.
“If anybody’s going to do something about it, I think he will,” Carpenter said.
Sarah Wells Rolland, 65, whose Asheville pottery studio was destroyed by flooding, is less enthusiastic. Her town leans Democratic, and she's worried that Trump won't prioritize its rebuilding.
“I’m not overly optimistic that the Trump administration is going to do anything long-term,” she said.
Once in California, Trump plans to tour the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, where rows of homes  He’s expected to receive a briefing on the fires, , with thousands of people under evacuation orders.
Trump has showered California leaders with disdain for water policies that  worsened the recent blazes. He said he would “take a look at a fire that could have been put out if they let the water flow, but they didn’t let the water flow.”
Members of Congress will be at the briefing, and the meeting  Trump has suggested using federal disaster assistance as a bargaining chip during unrelated legislative negotiations over government borrowing, or as leverage to persuade California to change its water policies.
“Playing politics with people’s livelihoods is unacceptable and a slap in the face to the Southern California wildfire victims and to our brave first responders,” said Rep. Young Kim, a Republican from Orange County, south of Los Angeles, in a recent statement.
Trump has been focused on , specifically fish conservation efforts in the northern part of the state.
“I don’t think we should give California anything until they let the water run down,” Trump said Wednesday in an interview with Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity.
Michael Coen, who served as chief of staff at FEMA during the Biden administration, said Trump was “misinformed” about an agency that provides critical help to states when they are overwhelmed by catastrophe.
In addition, Coen criticized the idea of attaching strings to assistance.
“You’re going to pick winners and losers on which communities are going to be supported by the federal government," he said. "I think the American people expect the federal government will be there for them on their worst day, no matter where they live.”
The last time Trump was president, he visited numerous disaster zones, including the aftermath of hurricanes and tornadoes. He sometimes sparked criticism, like when he  to survivors of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.
Trump tapped Cameron Hamilton, a former Navy SEAL with limited experience managing natural disasters, as FEMA’s acting director.
Before leaving office, Biden vowed that the federal government would cover all the costs of responding to the wildfires around Los Angeles, which could end up being the . However, that promise won't be kept unless Congress comes up with more funding.
Friday's trip could prompt some uncomfortable conversations about climate change, which Trump has played down and denied. Both Helene and the Los Angeles wildfires were exacerbated by global warming.
In Helene’s case, a study by international climate scientists at World Weather Attribution found that climate change  In California, the state suffered  — its traditional wet season — which made the area around Los Angeles more vulnerable to blazes.
“This is just breaking our comfort zone of what is supposed to be normal,” said University of Oregon researcher Amanda Stasiewicz.
After visiting North Carolina and California, Trump plans to hold a rally Saturday in Las Vegas.
\_\_\_ Associated Press writers Stephen Groves and Seth Borenstein contributed to this report.