Welcome to Power Players, The i Paper’s opinion series in which our writers and experts take an in-depth look at the key figures in American politics as the US reshapes itself and the world.
• The ‘swamp creature’ eclipsing JD Vance in the race to succeed Trump• The greatest hope of the Trump resistance is a 34-year-old immigrant• The 28-year-old Trump attack dog ripping up the Washington playbook• The ‘pro-white nationalist’ whose power over Trump grows every day• Trump’s military cheerleader who is learning about war the hard way• The high-flying lawyer who turned tradwife for JD Vance• The right-wing judge who put Trump above the law• The female firebrand ready to reshape Trump’s America
One of Donald Trump’s most famous campaign adverts in 2024 declared, “Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you.”
Opposition to diversity, equity, and inclusion programs (DEI) that help people of colour and women advance was a Trump calling card – as well as opposition to transgender rights.
Once he assumed office, he issued a flurry of directives to put those campaign promises into effect. He issued executive orders claiming to end DEI and declaring that “women are biologically female, and men are biologically male.” DEI is an issue that has animated the far right and came under heavy fire in Project 2025, the conservative blueprint for a Republican presidency that Trump has mostly adhered to. So did the rights of transgender Americans.
