Fact Check: Trump administration removed Navajo Code Talker history from military websites per anti-DEI orders

Yahoo

19-03-2025

Claim:
The Trump administration removed Navajo Code Talker history from some government websites in accordance with President Donald Trump's anti-DEI orders.
Rating:
Context:
As of this writing, there were at least a few U.S. government webpages that still included information on Navajo Code Talker history, but this history had been erased from other pages and at least one revised URL began with "dei." The Department of Defense has reportedly said the deleted pages will be restored.
On March 17, 2025, a rumor that the history of Navajo Code Talkers was "erased" from U.S. military websites by the Trump administration circulated on the internet. An indispensable asset of the Allied military effort in World War II, Navajo Code Talkers communicated military intel over radio using a modified version of the Navajo language (also known as Diné bizaad).
Axios was the first to report (archived) that Navajo Code Talkers had "disappeared" from military websites following a Trump order on DEI and the claim spread to multiple social media sites, including Reddit (archived), Bluesky (archived) and X (archived). Some posts claimed that the administration had erased their story from "all military websites":
Trump issued a number of executive orders targeting diversity, equity and inclusion programs in early 2025. On Feb. 26, the Pentagon issued a memo (archived) ordering all DEI-related content removed from Department of Defense websites and social media platforms by March 5, 2025.
Axios identified at least 10 decommissioned webpages related to Navajo Code Talkers across the DOD, U.S. Army and U.S. Intelligence Community's digital records. A few examples of those removals are as follows:
Code Talkers Helped U.S. Win World Wars I and II ("Page Not Found" as of March 7)
Includes an added "dei" notation at the beginning of the URL
Protectors of Army communications ("Page Not Found" as of March 17)
1942: Navajo Code Talkers ("404 - Article Not Found" as of March 19)
However, as of this writing, there are also at least four webpages that still display information related to the Navajo Code Talkers:
Navajo Nation – Inventors of the Unbreakable Code (archived)
Our Nation's Heroes: Through the Years (archived)
Airman Honors Grandfather's WWII Code Talker Legacy (archived)
The Navy Department Library: Navajo Code Talkers World War II Fact Sheet (archived)
On March 18, 2025, Crystalyne Curley, speaker of the Navajo Nation Council, issued the following statement:
The service of the Navajo Code Talkers secured victory in the Battle of Iwo Jima and in World War II. The Navajo Code Talkers earned their place in history through their courage and sacrifice, giving their lives in defense of this nation. Erasing their extraordinary contributions from formal military history is not only disrespectful, it is dishonorable.
Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren also formally requested clarification from the Army and the Department of Defense.
In an emailed statement to Snopes on March 19, 2025, Pentagon press secretary John Ullyot said:
As Secretary Hegseth has said, DEI is dead at the Defense Department. Discriminatory Equity Ideology is a form of Woke cultural Marxism that has no place in our military. It Divides the force, Erodes unit cohesion and Interferes with the services' core warfighting mission. We are pleased by the rapid compliance across the Department with the directive removing DEI content from all platforms. In the rare cases that content is removed -- either deliberately or by mistake -- that is out of the clearly outlined scope of the directive, we instruct the components and they correct the content accordingly.
However, in a statement to news outlets (archived) earlier in the day on March 19, the DOD said, "The department is restoring content about the Navajo Code Talkers. It had previously been removed during the auto-removal process." Snopes reached out to the DOD via email and phone to corroborate this reporting, and will update the story if we receive a response.
During his first administration, Trump honored the Navajo Code Talkers. In 2017, he hosted 97-year-old Fleming Begaye, Iwo Jima survivor Thomas Begay and Peter MacDonald, the president of the then-13 surviving Navajo Code Talkers, in the Oval Office.
(Getty Images)
Alberty, Erin. 'Exclusive: Navajo Code Talkers Disappear from Military Websites after Trump DEI Order'. Axios, 17 Mar. 2025, https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2025/03/17/navajo-code-talkers-trump-dei-military-websites-wwii.
'Families of Navajo Code Talkers Decry Trump's Use of "Pocahontas"'. PBS News, 28 Nov. 2017, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/families-of-navajo-code-talkers-decry-trumps-use-of-pocahontas.
'Navajo Nation Calls out "erasure" of WWII Code Talkers from DOD Website'. 12news.Com, 18 Mar. 2025, https://www.12news.com/article/news/regional/native-america/navajo-nation-calls-out-erasure-wwii-code-talkers-from-dod-website/75-62a71afe-99d1-44af-916a-b5e88f662be5.
Remarks by President Trump at an Event Honoring the Native American Code Talkers – The White House. https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-event-honoring-native-american-code-talkers/. Accessed 18 Mar. 2025.