How Americans Feel About Corporate America Abandoning DEI to Appease Trump

For almost a year now, big brands spanning nearly every industry have been deprioritizing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs. However, this trend has accelerated ten-fold since the November election of Donald Trump, who is already following through on promises to remove DEI from American life during his first weeks back in office.

It marks a stunning about-face from Trump’s first term, when corporate America loudly resisted Trump’s policies and general presence. 

As companies look to ingratiate themselves with the second Trump administration in this manner, new Morning Consult data provides an update on how Americans feel about the practice of DEI at large and the recent shift away from it. 

DEI is — and has been — popular

Morning Consult has been tracking sentiment toward DEI for years, and for years it has remained largely unchanged — a fact that holds true in the months since Trump’s election. 

As of December 2024, a clear majority of U.S. adults (67%) believe it is either “very” or “somewhat” important for companies to speak out on diversity and inclusion in the workforce. And while this figure varies as expected along gender, generational and political party lines, even a slim majority of Republicans are typically in favor of brands promoting DEI, further underscoring its broad appeal.

This data suggests that brands that abandon or curb their existing DEI commitments in an attempt to satisfy the current crop of political leaders are doing so at the risk of long-term favorability among consumers. Of course, it’s also generally not a best practice to take a position and then backtrack on it.

What’s more, DEI doesn’t just have broad support as an idea that companies should promote, it’s also seen as an operational imperative of sorts: In separate research from late November 2024, 3 in 5 (60%) U.S. adults said that DEI initiatives are either “very” or “somewhat” important to the success of most businesses, and this share was even higher (67%) among those who are currently employed full-time.

This is consistent with findings from another Morning Consult analysis on consumer appetite for corporate engagement amid the 2024 election cycle, wherein approximately 2 in 3 (66%) American workers said they believe the presence of DEI programs positively impacts their organization’s culture. The same report also found that a large majority of U.S. adults are supportive of brands making an explicit effort to display diversity and inclusion in their marketing materials. 

With such healthy consumer backing for DEI in all sorts of contexts, it’s unsurprising that efforts to weaken the practice are not widely favored. 

Feeling down on DEI rollbacks 

In late November 2024, a plurality of U.S. adults said they opposed companies walking back or ending DEI-related initiatives, on par with the share who said the same in July 2024. 

Meanwhile, the share who said they support these behaviors actually declined over the same period — falling at least four percentage points for all three tested actions. Now, less than 1 in 3 U.S. adults favor brands reneging on DEI commitments.

Still, despite its strong public opinion position, DEI’s future as a fixture function in corporate America is uncertain. 

A small handful of online conservative activists spurred many of the earliest private sector moves to scale back DEI last year. But with Republicans now in control of all three branches of government (and media platforms like X amplifying right-leaning voices), the anti-DEI microphone is much bigger and more powerful than ever. And so far, most of the white-collar world seems unwilling to ruffle any Trump 2.0 feathers — even if they aren’t actively aligning themselves with the new administration. 

And while support for rollbacks is falling, consumers have yet to punish any brand over a DEI policy reversal. Gen Zers’ politics also continue to shift rightward, meaning this issue is poised to become less and less important over time.  

Ultimately, these actions are a reminder that brands take cues from different forces at different times; right now, political forces are clearly trumping all else. 

Of course, how this plays out long-term remains to be seen. But for brands that do wish to continue executing on DEI amid such an environment, focusing on staff-centric efforts — like recruiting and promoting employees from minority groups — is the approach most likely to keep brands insulated from harmful political attacks.