Trump’s “Woke” Presidency
Wokeness is alive and thriving in our current administration—its version is merely defined by extreme attacks on our First Amendment
By John F. Terzano
On January 20, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order titled “Restoring Freedom Of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship.” The Executive Order bans the government from “any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen” and to “ensure that no Federal Government officer, employee, or agent engages in or facilitates any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen.” While one may think that such language would foster a culture of tolerance for opposing views and a commitment to ensuring our First Amendment’s right to free speech, the actions of the Trump Administration reflect the exact opposite inclination.
There are countless examples of how the Administration is curtailing free speech across the government, including behavior like circulating lists of banned words for staff of government agencies. The most recent example is a February 17, 2025 letter from Edward Martin, the Interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, written to the Dean of Georgetown Law School stating that Martin’s office would not hire students and graduates from the school because he found the school’s commitment to DEI as reflected in its curriculum “unacceptable.” Moreover, Martin stated he would continue to deny employment until Georgetown adopted a curriculum that he approved.
As the Interim U.S. Attorney, Martin is a federal employee. As such, he is not only violating the Executive Order, his demand is unconstitutional. The First Amendment guarantees the right to free speech. The government cannot dictate to a university what an institution can teach or how a faculty may teach it. One of a university’s essential freedoms guaranteed under the First Amendment is the right to determine its faculty, its curriculum, and how that faculty opts to teach their curriculum.
Martin’s attempt to control a private institution that was “founded on the principle that serious and sustained discourse among people of different faiths, cultures, and beliefs promotes intellectual, ethical and spiritual understanding” is chilling. Moreover, as a Catholic University, Martin’s directive to Georgetown appears to further violate the First Amendment’s right to religious freedom.
Martin’s office employs around 350 prosecutors and hundreds more paralegals and staff. Students and law school graduates from around the country seek to work there because of the historically prestigious nature of the office. And while Martin’s directive was aimed explicitly at Georgetown, what about other institutions?
I was a faculty member at the University of Dayton School of Law, a Catholic University committed “to honoring the intrinsic value and dignity of all people.” Its inclusive excellence is rooted in its Catholic and Marianist traditions. Eric Spina, president of the university, has stated “[t]o be fully human, we must embrace multiple perspectives and look at the world through the eyes of people who are different from us to grow in our own knowledge, empathy and humanity.” Now, when students or graduates from the school seek employment in the U.S. attorney’s office in D.C., will they be denied because of the University’s commitment to DEI?
What about the University of the District of Columbia’s David A. Clarke School of Law, another institution of which I had the honor of being a faculty member? The school is one of six law schools in the country at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. It is committed to providing a comprehensive legal education and actively recruits students from traditionally underrepresented communities—reflecting its commitment to DEI. Will their students and graduates be barred at the D.C.’s U.S. Attorney’s office?
Trump has declared numerous times that “wokeness is dead.” It is not. Trump and individuals who work for him, like Martin, have adopted the right-wing form of wokeness. In other words, it has replaced one ideology with another. The attacks on DEI and the policing of language are the administration’s attempt to force their ideologies upon not only officials and employees of the federal government, but private institutions as well.
I am a Vietnam veteran who has worked on social justice issues for over 45 years. My military experiences and those of the veterans I worked with left us with an understanding of human suffering and a desire to leave behind a legacy of fairness for future generations. Both left-wing and right-wing ideological extremes threaten open dialogue. Trump and his allies claim to fight “woke” censorship. Yet their policies—as evidenced by the Martin directive to Georgetown School of Law—push laws and regulations that restrict speech on race, gender, and LGBTQ+ issues.
Trump’s right-wing “wokeness” doesn’t just target liberal institutions. It also reshapes conservative individuals and conservative institutions by demanding loyalty to Trump’s form of nationalism and punishing dissent. Such an increasingly authoritarian approach discourages independent thought, replacing traditional conservative values and principles with rigid ideological enforcement. If left unchecked, it will lead to a version of American governance that prioritizes political conformity over genuine freedom.
John F. Terzano is an attorney and social justice and human rights advocate who co-founded Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF), an international advocacy and humanitarian organization that addressed the causes, conduct, and consequences of war. VVAF's work on the International Campaign to ban landmines was recognized with the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997.
Terzano currently lives in Ludington, Michigan, where he continues to work as a social justice and human rights advocate both locally and around the world.
I was drafted -- kicking and screaming -- during the summer of 1968, having been reclassified from 1-Y to 1-A just after the Tet Offensive. I was not happy, but as an Army Brat, I went. I served in a Lurp (Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol) company that became a Ranger company in early 1969; I also did stints with 5th SFG and PRU (Provincial Reconnaissance Unit) teams. Then, for reasons that defy easy explanation, I ended up later going from NCO to OCS to 2LT at the age of 30, eventually retiring as a colonel after 33 years of service; I then did another decade-plus within the DOD in training and IED work, which included just short of four years being deployed to SWA after I retired (on top of those I did while still in uniform).
I grew up in an Army and a military that was struggling with integration and then served in one that Trump and his followers would considered as "woke."
While certainly not perfect, the diversity, acceptance, and inclusion of those across the spectrum of American life made the Army and the military I served in a better, more effective force. Talent and ability know no bounds when it comes to sex, color, race, or whatever. One of the very best Apache pilots I flew with just happened to be female. Probably my dearest, closest friends over the years just happened to Black, Hispanic, female, LGBTQ, Very Conservative, Muslim, Jew, whatever: they were my friends. End of discussion.
What the Trump administration is doing is abhorrent to what I spent my adult life defending: while Freedom of Speech cannot be a serious pain in the ass at times, my oath to the Constitution meant -- and means -- that I am obliged to defend it. And so forth down the line. Yes, I might grumble and whine about it, but the commonwealth, the common good, the decency of being an American is far more important than my "feeling."
As a colonel in command, you have power that is little short of being the "Voice of God" to those under your command. Yet, you also have very wise and experience men and women on your staff -- your Command Sergeant Major, the Command Master Gunner, the Executive Officer, and others, both Officer and NCO -- that grounds you in the reality that power is best used wisely and humanely. I rarely hesitated to use my power when the least among my command, the junior enlisted personnel especially, were treated unfairly; more than once my CSM and I darkened the door of those doing so...
Bravery, one quickly discovers in combat is situational; courage, on the other hand, is something that resides within a person. It is much more difficult to be courageous than to be brave. Truth is, of course, that whether we wish to admit or not, few of us always rise to the challenge of being courageous. This is a time when courage, which often goes unrewarded, is needed. The constant refrain of berating the Democrats misses the point that Evil and Malice often gets the best of us and wins elections. The vicious and idiotic attacks on DEI and "woke" are really a smokescreen for establishing an autocratic way of life (as existed under the Jim/Jill Crow days of the Dixiecrats). It rejects the idea that America is an Idea, an Ideal, and seeks to create the idea of "others" who need to be excluded.
I have written more than I intended, not to mention straying a bit, but: This Is America. What the fuck is wrong with Trump, Musk, and the rest of those people?
"Both left-wing and right-wing ideological extremes threaten open dialogue....Trump’s right-wing “wokeness” doesn’t just target liberal institutions. It also reshapes conservative individuals and conservative institutions by demanding loyalty to Trump’s form of nationalism and punishing dissent. Such an increasingly authoritarian approach discourages independent thought, replacing traditional conservative values and principles with rigid ideological enforcement. If left unchecked, it will lead to a version of American governance that prioritizes political conformity over genuine freedom." Mr. Terzano's words say it all. We just have to keep on speaking up and speaking out. I suspect many of the Republican Congress didn't sign up for this to be so extreme. There's work to be done.