Latest news with #DEI-driven
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump offers to help Obama with presidential library's 'disaster'
President Donald Trump on Tuesday offered to help out with the development of the Obama Presidential Center, which has been plagued by huge cost overruns and delays, with the project's embrace of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies drawing significant attention recently. Trump, who reshaped city skylines with towering skyscrapers throughout his business career, linked DEI to the problems at the massive Chicago project, which has seen costs spiral from an initial $350 million to $830 million in 2021, with no new updated figures available. "Look, President Obama, if he wanted help, I'd give him help because I'm a really good builder and I build on time, on budget. He's building his library in Chicago. It's a disaster," Trump said at the White House alongside Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. President Donald Trump on Tuesday offered to help out with the development of the Obama Presidential Center, which has been plagued by huge cost overruns and delays. The project has embraced diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Obama Library, Begun With Lofty Dei Goals, Now Plagued By $40M Racially Charged Suit, Ballooning Costs Trump was speaking about the Biden administration's CHIPS Act -- passed to boost domestic semiconductor research and manufacturing - and its DEI provisions when he pivoted to the Obama Presidential Center. "[Obama] said something to the effect, 'I only want DEI, I only want woke,'" Trump said. "He wants woke people to build it. Well, he got woke people and they have massive cost overruns. A job is stopped. I don't know, it's a disaster. And I don't like that happening because it's bad for the presidency that a thing like that should happen. He's got a library that's a disaster." Read On The Fox News App Construction is still under way at the 19.3-acre site which will consist of a 225-foot-tall museum, a digital library, conference facilities, a gymnasium and a regulation-sized NBA court. From the outset, the project touted "ambitious goals" for certain construction diversity quotas, with its contracts allocated to "diverse suppliers," 35% of which were required to be minority-based enterprises (MBEs). A $40.75 million racially charged lawsuit filed earlier this year by a minority contractor against the project's structural engineer shined a spotlight on the DEI-driven aspect of the project. The structural engineers claimed the minority contractor lacked sufficient qualifications and experience to perform its work, resulting in delays. Trump on Tuesday said Obama was paying for prioritizing DEI over meritocracy. "And he wanted to be very politically correct and he didn't use good, hard, tough, mean construction workers that I love Marco," Trump said, switching into his trademark deeper tone while addressing Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Obama Presidential Center aerial shot in March. Musk's Doge Terminates Lease At Obama Presidential Library Site "I love those construction workers but he didn't want construction workers. He wanted people that never did it before and he's got a disaster in his hands. Many millions of dollars over budget and I would love to help him with it or somebody else I could recommend professionals, but it was not built in a professional manner." Emily Bittner, the vice president of communications at the nonprofit Obama Foundation, said Trump's remarks were not based in facts and that the center itself is not involved in the lawsuit, nor did it delay the timeline of the facility which is set to open in 2026. The Obama Foundation oversees the center's development and will also be housed at the center when it opens. "Everyone who sees the Obama Presidential Center is blown away by its beauty, scale and the way it will be an economic engine for Chicago and a beacon of hope for the world," Bittner told Fox News Digital in a statement. "We look forward to welcoming all visitors to the 19.3-acre campus next spring, to experience a presidential center that not only honors the Obamas' legacy but also lifts up the next generation of leaders." Bittner said the hundreds of workers on site every day are a testament to the center's progress and added that the project is being funded privately and not by the taxpayer. The library at the center will be a digital one and not a physical one like other presidential libraries have, which are federally funded and have size restrictions. Obama's current presidential library is in Hoffman Estates in the northwest of Chicago and is expected to move to College Park in Maryland later this year. Original article source: Trump offers to help Obama with presidential library's 'disaster'
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
FCC to investigate 'DEI discrimination' at Disney, ABC
March 29 (UPI) -- The Federal Communications Commission Enforcement Bureau has launched an investigation into hiring practices at Disney and ABC to ensure neither is violating equal employment opportunity regulations through "DEI discrimination." "I want to ensure that Disney and ABC have not been violating FCC equal employee opportunity regulations by promoting invidious forms of [diversity, equity and inclusion] discrimination," FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said Thursday in a letter to Walt Disney Company Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger. The FCC investigation is to ensure Disney and ABC have ended "any and all discriminatory initiatives in substance, not just in name," Carr said. He also wants to determine whether Disney's actions complied at all times with applicable FCC regulations, even if those actions have ended. "Disney started out a century ago as an iconic American company," Carr said. "For decades, Disney focused on churning out box office and programming successes," he continued. "But then, something changed. Disney has now been embroiled in rounds of controversy surrounding its DEI policies." Carr said "numerous reports" suggest Disney's leaders "went all-in on insidious forms of DEI discrimination" in a manner that "infected" the company's decision making. The Communications Act and FCC rules prohibit entities like Disney and ABC from discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, age or gender, Carr wrote. "I am concerned that ABC and its parent company have been or may still be promoting invidious formed of DEI in a manner that does not comply with FCC regulations," he said. Carr said Disney in recent years prioritized DEI and "embedded explicit race- and gender-based criteria across its operations." Such practices include implementing "racially segregated affinity groups and spaces" and launching Disney's "Reimagine Tomorrow" initiative that Carr called a "mechanism for advancing its DEI mission." Carr also accuses ABC of imposing mandatory "inclusion standards" that require half of all regular and recurring characters to depict underrepresented groups and at least half of all writers, directors, crew and vendors be hired based on group identity. "It appears that executive bonuses may also have been tied to DEI 'performance,' and ABC has utilized race-based hiring databases and restricted fellowships to select demographic groups," Carr wrote. He said it is unclear if Disney and ABC have fundamentally changed their recent DEI-driven policies and if their past practices violated FCC regulations. Disney officials are reviewing Carr's letter, according to a prepared statement shared with the BBC. "We look forward to engaging with the commission to answer its questions," the statement said. ABC officials did not respond to a UPI request for comment on Saturday afternoon. The Trump administration has banned DEI practices within the federal government and is opposing discrimination among U.S. employers.
