Showing posts with label State Department. Show all posts
Showing posts with label State Department. Show all posts

Sunday, February 8, 2026

State Department will delete X posts from before Trump returned to office; NPR, February 7, 2026

Shannon Bond, Stephen Fowler, NPR; State Department will delete X posts from before Trump returned to office

"The State Department is removing all posts on its public accounts on the social media platform X made before President Trump returned to office on Jan. 20, 2025.

The posts will be internally archived but will no longer be on public view, the State Department confirmed to NPR. Staff members were told that anyone wanting to see older posts will have to file a Freedom of Information Act request, according to a State Department employee who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation by the Trump administration. That would differ from how the U.S. government typically handles archiving the public online footprint of previous administrations.

The move comes as the Trump administration has removed wide swaths of information from government websites that conflict with the president's views, including environmental and health data and references to women, people of color and members of the LGBTQ+ community. The government has also taken down signs at national parks mentioning slavery and references to Trump's impeachments and presidency at the National Portrait Gallery.

The White House has also launched a revisionist history account of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and has replaced the government's coronavirus resource sites with a page titled "Lab Leak: The True Origins of Covid-19."

The removal of State Department X posts from public view appears to be less about ideological differences with past statements and more about control of future messaging. The directive will see the removal of posts from Trump's first term as well as those under then-Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama.

In response to NPR's questions about the removals, an unnamed State Department spokesperson said the goal "is to limit confusion on U.S government policy and to speak with one voice to advance the President, Secretary, and Administration's goals and messaging. It will preserve history while promoting the present." The spokesperson said the department's X accounts "are one of our most powerful tools for advancing the America First goals and messaging of the President, Secretary, and Administration, both to our fellow Americans and audiences around the world.""

Sunday, December 14, 2025

Rubio orders State Department to change official memo font, citing DEI issue: Official; ABC News, December 10, 2025

Mariam Khan, ABC News; Rubio orders State Department to change official memo font, citing DEI issue: Official

The font was changed two years ago to assist readers with visual disabilities.


"The Calibri font is going the way of the typewriter at the State Department after Secretary of State Marco Rubio inked a memo mandating that the agency use only Times New Roman for official communications – and size 14 to boot, according to a department official.


The new directive, which was sent to all diplomats, is the latest action by the Trump administration to roll back diversity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The change is effective immediately, according to the directive.

Two years ago, Rubio’s predecessor, Antony Blinken, switched the State Department font to Calibri, on the recommendation of the State Department’s office of diversity and inclusion, in part to assist individuals with certain visual disabilities, such as low vision and dyslexia."

Wednesday, November 26, 2025

Trump Administration Will No Longer Commemorate World AIDS Day; The New York Times, November 26, 2025

, The New York Times; Trump Administration Will No Longer Commemorate World AIDS Day


[Kip Currier: How disconcerting it is to see the Trump 2.0 administration make this policy change from years of recognizing December 1st's World AIDS Day, particularly when many other proclamations have been issued this year for "World Autism Awareness Day, National Manufacturing Day and World Intellectual Property Day", as reported in the New York Times article.]


[Excerpt]

"Every year since 1988, the United States has marked Dec. 1 as World AIDS Day, when people mourn those who died of the disease, honor efforts to contain the epidemic and raise awareness among the general public.

Not this year.

The State Department this month instructed employees and grantees not to use funds from the United States government to commemorate the day. The directive is part of a broader policy “to refrain from messaging on any commemorative days, including World AIDS Day,” according to an email viewed by The New York Times.

Employees and grantees may still “tout the work” being done through various programs “to counter this dangerous disease and other infectious diseases around the world,” the email said. And they may attend events related to the commemoration.

But they should “refrain from publicly promoting World AIDS Day through any communication channels, including social media, media engagements, speeches or other public-facing messaging."...

So far this year, the White House has issued proclamations for dozens of other observances, including World Autism Awareness Day, National Manufacturing Day and World Intellectual Property Day.

The Trump administration froze foreign aid early in the year, derailing many public health programs dedicated to fighting H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS. Modeling studies have suggested that cuts by the United States and other countries could result in 10 million additional H.I.V. infections, including one million among children, and three million additional deaths over the next five years.

To some activists, the administration’s decision was a painful reminder of the early days of the epidemic, when H.I.V. was neglected as a public health crisis...

World AIDS Day is when the State Department sends data to Congress from the President’s Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR, which provides money for H.I.V. programs worldwide. The program’s budget was sharply cut back earlier this year, and the administration is reported to be planning to end it."

Monday, March 2, 2015

Hillary Clinton Used Personal Email at State Dept., Possibly Breaking Rules; New York Times, 3/2/15

Michael S. Schmidt, New York Times; Hillary Clinton Used Personal Email at State Dept., Possibly Breaking Rules:
"Hillary Rodham Clinton exclusively used a personal email account to conduct government business as secretary of state, State Department officials said, and may have violated federal requirements that officials’ correspondence be retained as part of the agency’s record.
Mrs. Clinton did not have a government email address during her four-year tenure at the State Department. Her aides took no actions to have her personal emails preserved on department servers at the time, as required by the Federal Records Act."