Trump fires Coast Guard chief for ‘excessively focusing on diversity policies’ instead of ‘border security’

Donald Trump has fired the head of the US Coast Guard for excessively focusing on diversity policies instead of border security.

In one of his first acts after retaking the White House on Monday, Trump said his team was in the process of “identifying and removing” as many as 1,000 Joe Biden-era officials – with Coast Guard chief Linda Fagan’s head among the first to roll.

Fagan, appointed to the post by Biden in 2022, was relieved of her duties by acting secretary of homeland security Benjamine Huffman – with Trump vowing there will be more to come.

The 47th President announced he had sacked four officials who were “not aligned with our vision to make America great again” on his social media platform Truth Social.

“Let this serve as official notice of dismissal for these four individuals, with many more, coming soon,” he wrote. “You’re fired!”

Huffman said Fagan had “served a long and illustrious career, and I thank her for her service to our nation” – but failed to give a reason for the decision.

But a source told Fox News that Fagan, 61, was let go after officials raised concerns over her failure to address border security threats and her focus on diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

In her role, Fagan frequently spoke out in favour of diversity.

MORE AS DONALD TRUMP RETURNS TO THE WHITE HOUSE:

• Trump is told to ‘have mercy’ on LGBT people and migrants by woke bishop in toe-curling lecture
• Kari Lake says Trump will boot ‘tens of millions’ of migrants out in bumper deportation program
• Trump set to make major ultimatum over Lord Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to US

“The reason it’s critical is because diverse work teams outperform homogeneous teams,” she previously claimed to Military Families Magazine.

“They’re just stronger, more resilient, have better perspective and deeper strength of thought.”

While in an official statement on the Coast Guard’s diversity and inclusion policy, Fagan wrote: “Diversity is crucial to Coast Guard mission excellence.”

She added that leaders in the agency “must work to build their diversity and inclusion acumen” and develop their “emotional intelligence and ability to understand and appreciate the different experiences, perspectives, and ideas of every person with whom they work.”

Fagan had talked up the dozens of new DEI programmes and policies the service had introduced since 2020 – while in a statement marking pride month last year, she said the service was celebrating “living out truth”.

The source also told Fox News there had been an “erosion of trust” over her handling of Operation Fouled Anchor – an internal investigation into sexual assault cases at the Coast Guard Academy.

Senior Trump ally Elon Musk, who now leads the new administration’s drive to cut costs across the federal government, took a swipe at DEI initiatives on social media – but stopped short of confirming Fagan’s termination.

“Undermining the US military and border security to spend money on racist/sexist DEI nonsense is no longer acceptable,” Musk said.