Trump’s anti-DEI push continues. Executive Order 11354, the latest in a series of anti-DEI measures meant to counteract a perceived liberal dominance in the federal government, officially renamed the first trans-continental railroad–also known as the “Pacific Railroad”– to the “American Continental Railroad.” Experts have widely condemned this decision, saying that it erases a key part of American history and engages in historical revisionism. “Make no mistake, this cannot change what happened between 1863 and 1869,” said Ken O’Rourke, an associate professor of American history at Barnard College.
While many historians say that this name change serves no legitimate purpose, the Trump administration pushed back against these characterizations, saying that it “returns the Biblical truth of biological sex back to America’s national railroads.” “For too long, America’s iconic and longest railroad has not reflected basic common sense truths, instead reflecting a radical, Marxist, communist agenda that will no longer be tolerated by the new administration,” reported press secretary Karoline Leavitt. When asked for further comment, Leavitt said that she had to leave, as she had just been informed that a federal government employee had said the word “Union.”
