From left: Dr. Carla Hayden, Dr. Lisa Cook, and Gwynne Wilcox
Black women have borne the brunt of Donald Trump’s ire. No doubt he’s spent countless hours fuming over the fact that Kamala Harris had the temerity to challenge him for his self-anointed role of President of the United States. After all, she was an accomplice in stealing the 2020 election, which set the stage for a massive assault on Black women’s employment. During his first day in office, Trump issued an executive order directing the termination of all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies and programs in the federal government, the closure of federal offices related to DEI, and the termination of all related employment. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) went to work with Elon Musk’s proverbial chainsaw.
There are no firm data available to estimate the number of federal job losses Black women have suffered; however, Blacks—especially women—represent 18 percent of federal workers compared to being 12 percent of the population. Thus, with the focus on eliminating DEI-related jobs, they would naturally be disproportionately impacted by separations. People of color and women were severed from governmental jobs at an alarming rate. The administration then pressured the private sector to follow suit or face the federal government’s wrath.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Black women lost 319,000 jobs in the public and private sectors between February and July of this year, the lone female demographic to experience significant employment losses during the five months. White women had job increases of 142,000, and Latino women had an increase of 176,000 jobs over the same period. According to the July 2025 Bureau of Labor Statistics release, Black women’s median weekly earnings were $942, 85.6 percent of that of white women ($1,110).
Trump targeted several uniquely qualified Black women—the latest being Dr. Lisa Cook, the first Black woman to sit on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, who is being investigated for mortgage fraud by the Department of Justice despite knowing her firing would compromise the Fed’s independence. Dr. Carla Hayden was appointed as the 14th Librarian of Congress in 2016. She was the first woman and the first Black woman to hold the post, a position she held until the Trump administration terminated her in May of this year. And, then there is Gwynne Wilcox, the first Black woman to serve on the National Labor Relations Board, confirmed by the Senate on September 6, 2023, for her second term. She served as Chair from December 17, 2024, to January 20, 2025. Trump fired her on January 27, a week after he took office. U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell found her dismissal illegal, but the Supreme Court allowed it to stand temporarily. The list includes many others.
Trump has leveled insults at every demographic under the sun, but his vitriol directed at Black women has been particularly strident. The use of dehumanizing terms like “animal,” the questioning of mental fitness with words like “wacky” and “mentally impaired,” and the relentless attacks on intelligence using phrases like “low IQ” are not mere insults. They are representations of long-standing and deeply offensive images and stereotypes that have been used for centuries to justify the marginalization of Black women. This rhetoric functions to disqualify Black women from positions of power by framing them as intellectually, mentally, and morally unfit to occupy them.
Trump reserved his most diabolical diatribes for two women he perceived to be his greatest tormentors—Fulton County, GA District Attorney Fani Willis and New York State Attorney General Letitia James, repeatedly labeling them as racists. They won indictments of him on state-level charges, so the federal courts could not rescue him. A Georgia Court of Appeals disqualified Willis because of “a significant appearance of impropriety,” but allowed the indictment to stand. AG James secured a conviction in New York in a civil suit related to financial fraud. The fine of $355 was thrown out by an appeals court that found it excessive; however, the judgment stands. The Department of Justice has launched an investigation into James for mortgage fraud.
Trump continues to troll Black women. He announced during an Oval Office media event on Friday that Black women are pleading with him to send troops to Chicago to clean up crime in the city. “It won’t even be tough. The people of Chicago… are screaming for us to come. They’re wearing red hats, just like this one,” Trump said, showcasing his latest merchandise—a red hat that read, “Trump Was Right About Everything.”
“African-American ladies, beautiful ladies, are saying, ‘Please President Trump, come to Chicago, please,’ ” he said. “I did great with the Black vote, as you know. They want something to happen.” There is no limit to his gall.