Trump Blasted After Military Scrubs WWII Navajo Code Talkers From Websites Due To 'DEI'

The Department of Defense and the U.S. Army have been widely criticized after they removed materials from their websites about the World War II Navajo Code Talkers, who from 1942 to 1945 played a crucial role in every major Marine Corps operation in the Pacific, using their unbreakable code to secure communications.

News outlets found that at least 10 articles about the Code Talkers had vanished from the U.S. Army and Department of Defense websites as of Monday. The Defense Department’s URLs had been modified to include the letters "DEI," indicating they may have been removed following President Trump’s executive order dismantling federal diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

Archived versions from the Internet Archive show the deleted Army pages were accessible as recently as November, with many still available until February or March. None displayed error messages until after Trump took office.

When asked about the missing pages, Pentagon Press Secretary John Ullyot responded in a statement:

"As Secretary [Pete] Hegseth has said, DEI is dead at the Defense Department. ... We are pleased by the rapid compliance across the Department with the directive removing DEI content from all platforms."

"In the rare cases that content is removed that is out of the clearly outlined scope of the directive, we instruct components accordingly."

Ullyot's response indicates the Trump administration's willingness to rewrite history amid a purge of content and programs that promote, per the administration, principles of diversity, equality, and inclusion.

The Navajo Code Talkers have long been recognized as heroes of World War II, with over 400 young Navajo men enlisting in the U.S. Marines to develop an unbreakable code based on their language. Many even lied about their age to serve a country that had granted them citizenship only two decades earlier.

This encrypted code, never cracked by the enemy, was vital to the United States' success in the Pacific from 1942 to 1945. Historians argue that the Code Talkers helped hasten the war’s end and, without a doubt, saved thousands of lives.

Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said he was assured that information about the Code Talkers would be restored. Defense officials explained that the material was removed as part of an automated content review.

In a letter to the Defense Department, Nygren emphasized that the Code Talkers were “profoundly significant” to the Navajo Nation and had made immensely valuable contributions to U.S. military efforts during World War II.

Deb Haaland, the first Native American to serve as Interior Secretary, condemned the purge.

Many agreed with Haaland, highlighting the historical significance and contributions of the code talkers.

The military faced criticism this month for flagging 26,000 images for removal due to "DEI"; among them were images of the Enola Gay, which dropped the world's first atomic bomb.

The bulk of the Pentagon’s content purge overwhelmingly targets women and minorities, erasing notable milestones and achievements in military history.

In some instances, images appeared to be flagged solely because the word “gay” appeared in their file name — including photos of service members with that last name and an image of the Enola Gay, the B-29 bomber that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima during World War II.

Additionally, some photos of the Tuskegee Airmen — the nation’s first Black military pilots who served in a segregated unit during World War II — were included in the database. However, these images are likely to be preserved due to their historical significance.