President Donald J. Trump‘s administration is canceling a $2.3 million contract to provide virtual reality (VR) diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training for members of the U.S. military. The program allegedly uses a VR avatar, with a “trained individual” behind it, to simulate difficult conversations and differences of opinion military personnel might encounter—ostensibly to teach de-escalation strategies.
“It is an opportunity to have a difficult conversation when it comes to DEIA [DEI]. There is an avatar, and behind that avatar, there is a trained individual who is going to have a conversation, and he or she will be able to either elevate the difficulty of the conversation or back down and understand,” Hugo Escobar—a Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator for the U.S. Space Force—explains in a video. He continues: “The time that we’re living in, is we have conversations that are difficult, specifically dealing with people or differences of opinions.”
BREAKING: DOGE just TERMINATED a $2.3 MILLION contract for a ridiculous “VR training course” that taught soldiers how to have “difficult conversations” about DEI.
You can’t make this stuff up. pic.twitter.com/s2ROq5sDJy
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) February 10, 2025
Identified by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) as government waste, the $2.3 million contract was ended pursuant to an executive order signed by President Trump last month barring DEI programs for federal employees and contractors. The order instructs “all executive departments and agencies… to terminate all discriminatory and illegal preferences, mandates, policies, programs, activities, guidance, regulations, enforcement actions, consent orders, and requirements.”
In addition, Trump’s order calls for a review and overhaul of federal contracting processes to block companies from implementing diversity quotas, affirmative action mandates, and other DEI-style policies, stating: “[T]he employment, procurement, and contracting practices of Federal contractors and subcontractors shall not consider race, color, sex, sexual preference, religion, or national origin in ways that violate the Nation’s civil rights laws,” and every contract or grant award shall include a term requiring the recipient “to certify that it does not operate any programs promoting DEI that violate any applicable Federal anti-discrimination laws.”
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