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In the Trump administration’s latest blow to the wokes, the Pentagon on Friday instructed military leaders to conduct a sweeping review of all library materials across bases and academies, with orders to remove any books promoting what the Department of Defense deemed “divisive concepts and gender ideology.”

According to internal memos reviewed by the Associated Press, commanders were told to “promptly identify” and withdraw any material that conflicts with the military’s core mission, with a deadline of May 21 to complete the review. The directive comes amid a broader reorientation of the military’s cultural and educational standards under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a prominent critic of DEI programming.

In a separate memo issued the same day, the Pentagon informed the nation’s military academies – including West Point and the U.S. Naval Academy – that race, ethnicity, and sex should no longer factor into admissions decisions. Instead, selections must be based solely on merit, though the department left room for “unique athletic talent” to be considered.

The moves follow a January pledge by Secretary Hegseth to “purge DEI from the Pentagon,” arguing that the emphasis on diversity undermines military readiness. “Our diversity is our strength,” he said at the time, “is the single dumbest phrase in military history.”

As part of the book review, libraries are instructed to flag materials using search terms such as “affirmative action,” “anti-racism,” “critical race theory,” and “white privilege.” Already, the Naval Academy has removed nearly 400 titles, including Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, novels by Palestinian American author Etaf Rum, and various academic texts on race and gender.

To coordinate the ongoing review, the Pentagon is establishing a temporary “academic libraries committee” to assist other military colleges and institutions in identifying and removing similar materials.

The book bans extend beyond college libraries to K–12 schools on U.S. military bases worldwide. The Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA), which oversees these schools, has issued a list of prohibited children’s books, many of which include LGBTQ+ themes or explore racial identity.

Since the beginning of 2025, the federal government has seen what experts describe as a wholesale dismantling of DEI-related roles and programs. While no formal count has been released, estimates suggest that hundreds – if not thousands – of DEI personnel across federal agencies have been dismissed or reassigned.

The Pentagon’s directives are the latest in a series of actions that signal the Trump administration’s broader goal of reshaping federal institutions around “mission-first” principles, removing considerations of identity from official policy and practice.

Authored by Darren Taylor via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

JOHANNESBURG—Diplomats and officials from several leading African economies say the United States and China are pressuring them to make an “impossible choice,” as the superpowers fight a trade war that threatens to erode weak economies further.

Senior members of African governments, including those of South Africa, Egypt, Kenya and Nigeria, said Beijing has warned them it will retaliate against countries that sign trade agreements with the United States “at China’s expense.”

U.S. trade partners, including many from Africa, are currently negotiating with President Donald Trump’s administration following his global tariff announcement on April 2.

They’re trying to work out deals that could see the tariffs scrapped or lowered, depending on what they’re able to offer the White House.

Trump imposed some of the highest duties on African imports, ranging in some cases between 30 and 50 percent, arguing these are necessary to correct trade imbalances that take advantage of the United States.

He said the reciprocal tariffs will increase America’s competitive edge, protect its sovereignty, and strengthen its national and economic security.

But high taxes on their exports to the United States will cut billions of dollars from budgets already strained by high debt, inflation, the cost of industrializing, and the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, said African nations.

Countries like Lesotho, hit with a tariff of 50 percent on its exports to the United States, which it said could destroy its textile industry, and South Africa (31 percent), have welcomed the chance to talk with the United States.

“But we know that if we do anything that is seen as appeasing Trump, it won’t go down well back east,” a government official in Pretoria told The Epoch Times, speaking anonymously because he didn’t have permission to speak with the media.

“We’re playing a delicate game here,” he said. “Because of Trump’s tariffs and the economic hardship they’re going to cause us, we’re trying to form new trade partnerships, but we know China is not going to be happy with some of those partnerships, especially if we move economically closer to their biggest enemy. Part of our strategy is to do even more trade with China, but then Trump is going to see that as a betrayal. We cannot win. It’s an impossible choice.”

Kenyan and Nigerian diplomats, who requested anonymity for the same reason, said Chinese officials had warned their governments not to give in to what Beijing has described as “bullying” by the Trump administration.

The Nigerian envoy told The Epoch Times that “the Chinese made it clear they expect Africans to be on their side” in this trade war.

“They said their government will strike back against anyone that signs anything with the United States that hurts [Beijing],” the Nigerian official said.

China’s Ministry of Commerce recently issued a statement in a vein similar to the comments made by the African officials.

“China firmly opposes any party reaching a deal at the expense of China’s interests,” the ministry said. “If this happens, China will never accept it and will resolutely take countermeasures in a reciprocal manner.”

Ina Gouws, political scientist at the University of Free State in South Africa, told The Epoch Times that China’s threat to retaliate has brought African countries to a “crossroads.”

“We now have the world’s two biggest economic powers involving the rest of the world, and particularly Africa, where China has held sway for decades, in their spectacular trade war,” she said. “What does Africa now do? It can’t please two masters. African countries cannot afford to lose trade with either America or China. They have always been adamant that they need trade with both. But Trump and [Chinese leader] Xi [Jinping] have forced them into a corner, and there seems to be no good way out of this for Africa.”