How did diversity, equity and inclusion become controversial?

- octubre 25, 2025

October 26, 2025

Dear readers,

From the start of his second term at the White House, United States President Donald Trump has taken aim at diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes, calling them "immoral discrimination programmes", among other things.

He has signed executive orders banning such initiatives in his own country, and US embassies in Europe have even sent letters to major corporations in the European Union demanding that they scrap their DEI policies too.

But even as the US is undertaking a loud and aggressive rollback of DEI, the movement looks to be progressing unimpeded in the rest of the world.

Business leaders and experts say that outside the US, companies continue to recognise that DEI is not just a compassionate move towards building fairer and more inclusive workplaces, it's also a canny business strategy in a world where the competition for the best talent is getting fiercer.

In this week's Big Read, CNA TODAY takes a closer look at how corporations, especially those in Singapore, view DEI and what DEI even means in the local context.

Yours faithfully,

Yasmine Yahya
Deputy Chief Editor, CNA Digital (TODAY, Lifestyle & Luxury)

Hijacked by politics, DEI is under attack in the US. Where does it leave the global movement for inclusive workplaces?