UFE

When Donald Trump, as soon as he regained the presidency, attacked DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion), I assumed that he deplored the DEI offices found in corporations, universities, nonprofits, governmental entities, and elsewhere. I was wrong, which quickly became obvious as the administration began not only threatening such offices but also expunging the words “diversity,” “equity,” and “inclusion” wherever they could be found. The administration’s manic excisions even extended to those words on the World Wide Web appearing in contexts having nothing to do with DEI.

Dictionary.com offers a definition of DEI as good as can be found anywhere: “a conceptual framework that promotes the fair treatment and full participation of all people, especially in the workplace, including populations who have historically been underrepresented or subject to discrimination because of their background, identity, disability, etc.”

I suspect that many people—I would hope most people, including even Trump supporters—would endorse the objectives of DEI when presented with such an explicit definition. It is a fair assumption that Mr. Trump is not among that population. 

Mr. Trump knows exactly what his anti-DEI campaign is all about. He hates diversity. He favors American-born white, preferably male, people to those of other races or with conspicuous heritage from anywhere outside the U.S. (He makes an exception for white South Africans.)

Mr. Trump has no interest in treating all citizens, much less all people, equally. Only those people who can be useful to him are worthy of consideration. If you can make him money or kiss his ass in a politically useful manner, you become Mr. Trump’s friend, at least for the moment.

It follows, of course, that Mr. Trump has no interest in showing anyone special favors as compensation for historical injury, not only because he sees no personal gain in doing so, but also because he possesses the historical understanding of a slug.

I suggest that the president’s anti-DEI attitude can be properly characterized with another acronym, namely UFE. That stands for

• Uniformity: America for right-thinking MAGA white people
• Favoritism: Partiality is shown to the president’s friends
• Exclusion: People who are not useful to the president are of no account

Donald Trump, I submit, is the first UFE president.