Trump’s Education Pick Bankrolled Efforts to Support Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Linda McMahon’s foundation has donated millions to groups that advocated for DEI programs, lauded affirmative action, and criticized Donald Trump.
Linda McMahon and Donald Trump listens during the inaugural meeting of the President’s National Council for the American Worker in 2018.
(Oliver Contreras / Getty)
As President Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Education, Linda McMahon would be tasked with carrying out the GOP leader’s education agenda, including a roll back of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. But, interestingly, financial documents reviewed by The Nation show that McMahon’s foundation has contributed millions of dollars to organizations that espouse views in opposition to the 47th president.
These donations seem to conflict with her public right-wing stances, even as Trump continues to demand personal and party loyalty among his political appointees. The president has rapidly formed a new coalition—among his cabinet, on Capitol Hill, in the halls of the West Wing, and beyond—centered on hostility toward the Department of Education and DEI programs nationally.
With a confirmation hearing scheduled for February 13, McMahon submitted financial disclosure documents listing her as the director, secretary, treasurer, and member of the Vince and Linda McMahon Family Foundation. Tax returns for this foundation show a long history of philanthropy by the McMahons, including donations to various education-focused organizations.
Since 2011, the foundation has donated at least $1.97 million to Achievement First, a string of charter schools in New England primarily serving students of color. While Trump has publicly signaled his support for charter schools, he has moved to cut off all federal funding from schools which promote what he calls “discriminatory equity ideology.” Achievement First, though, has a multiyear history of promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion policies and opposing Trump’s actions during his first term, including his threats to immigration protections.
Achievement First has described DEI as “a philosophy that we live and breathe.”
“Diversity, equity, and inclusion aren’t just guidelines that sit in some employee handbook,” their website reads. The network also explicitly says it exists “to address the legacy of racism in education. We reflect and talk about the role race plays in our work, experiences, and decisions. We strive to be constantly anti-racist in our words and actions.” In response to the president’s latest battle against DEI programs, many education institutions, which receive billions in federal funding from the Department of Education, have scrubbed or altered their public stances on diversity programs. But Achievement First has not, as of this writing.
McMahon’s foundation has contributed more than $800,000 since the organization added a DEI policy to its website in 2019.
When Trump attempted to rescind Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals during his first term, Achievement First issued a statement condemning the threat, promising to keep the immigration status of its students confidential. The group also sent members of their lobbying team to Capitol Hill to implore members of Congress to oppose Trump’s agenda. That year, McMahon donated $250,000 to the organization.
When the Supreme Court outlawed race-based affirmative action in college admissions, Achievement First signed on to a 2023 joint statement calling the ruling “devastating.” McMahon donated $250,000 that year.
These ideals stand in opposition to Trump’s own platform and the purported values of the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), a right-wing think tank whose board McMahon chairs, which praised the Supreme Court’s decision.
McMahon’s foundation has also donated $125,000 to ConnCAN, a Connecticut-based nonprofit advocating for increased public school funding and DEI training in educator hiring. Trump and McMahon’s AFPI have refocused their attention away from public school funding to “school choice,” which allows parents to use taxpayer funding allocated for public education at private institutions.
Trump himself has also called for schools to embrace “patriotic values” and a cut in funding for schools teaching “inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content.” It is unclear what topics this would encompass.
The White House, Department of Education, AFPI, Achievement First, and ConnCAN all did not respond to a request for comment.
The office of Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who sits on the committee overseeing McMahon’s Thursday hearing, declined to comment on the nominees ahead of any confirmation votes. The committee’s chairman, Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), did not respond to a request for comment.
Even with donations to these liberal-leaning groups, McMahon has been a power player in Republican circles for years. After two failed campaigns for the US Senate, she assumed a place inside the Beltway as a Republican mega donor, relying on deep pockets lined from her time as president and CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment. After serving as the top-ranking official in the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term, she stepped down to run a pro-Trump super PAC. If confirmed, she has vowed to resign from her foundation.
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“swipe left below to view more authors”Swipe →If she secures enough votes to become secretary, one of McMahon’s main objectives will be to “put herself out of a job,” Trump said last week. Fulfilling a longtime campaign promise, Trump is reportedly taking the first steps toward shutting down the Department of Education.
In late January, employees at the department were placed on administrative leave in an effort to comply with Trump’s executive orders on DEI, according to a letter obtained by The Nation. The union representing the employees has said that approximately 100 of their members have been put on leave. Madi Biedermann, a spokesperson for the department, confirmed that they “are evaluating staffing in line with the commitment to prioritizing meaningful learning ahead of divisive ideology in schools and putting student outcomes above special interests.”
On Sunday prior to the Super Bowl, Trump warned that Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency will target the Department of Education—the latest episode in the billionaire’s weeks-long crusade to reshape the federal government. On Monday evening, DOGE announced that it had allegedly cut nearly $1 billion in contracts and grants disbursed by the Department of Education.
“By selecting Linda McMahon, Donald Trump is showing that he could not care less about our students’ futures,” National Education Association president Becky Pringle said in a statement. “McMahon’s only mission is to eliminate the Department of Education and take away taxpayer dollars from public schools.”
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