FBI closes its diversity office ahead of Trump's return to White House, US president-elect alleges 'corruption'

Donald Trump's imminent return to the White House as President of the United States has pushed the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to close its Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI).

According to a Fox News Digital report, the closure has already happened, in December 2024.

"In recent weeks, the FBI took steps to close the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI), effective by December 2024," FBI told the news website. 

The US President-elect took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to slam the FBI and claimed that the DEI office was closed due to "corruption".

"Why is it that they're closing one day before the Inauguration of a new administration? The reason is, CORRUPTION!"

He demanded that the FBI must "preserve and retain all records, documents, and information on the now closing DEI Office" and said that the office "Never should have been opened and, if it was, should have closed long ago".  

As per the report, the FBI did not specify why it closed down the office. However, the timing lends a clue that Trump might be the reason.

Many Republicans have been vocal about their opposition to practising diversity, equity and inclusion, and claim that these overshadow national security.

Earlier this month, Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn in a letter to Cristopher Wray, the FBI director, alleged that "radical" DEI practices "endangered" Americans. 

Referring to the New Year's Day terrorist attack in New Orleans, Blackburn in her Jan 3 letter wrote: "I am deeply concerned that—under your leadership—the Bureau has prioritised Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives over its core mission of protecting the American people".

Ahead of Trump's looming return, the FBI is not the only organisation to take a step away from diversity. 

Recently on Jan 10, Mark Zuckerberg's Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, announced that it was dismantling its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programmes. Similarly, Amazon too scaled back its inclusivity programmes and in an internal announcement that it remained "dedicated to delivering inclusive experiences" but was altering its approach to focus on programmes with "proven outcomes".