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Enola Gay, which dropped Hiroshima atomic bomb, hit in Pentagon DEI purge – National
References to a World War II Medal of Honor recipient, the Enola Gay aircraft that dropped an atomic bomb on Japan and the first women to pass Marine infantry training are among the tens of thousands of photos and online posts marked for deletion as the Defense Department works to purge diversity, equity and inclusion content, according to a database obtained by The Associated Press.
The database, which was confirmed by U.S. officials and published by AP, includes more than 26,000 images that have been flagged for removal across every military branch. But the eventual total could be much higher.
One official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details that have not been made public, said the purge could delete as many as 100,000 images or posts in total, when considering social media pages and other websites that are also being culled for DEI content. The official said it’s not clear if the database has been finalized.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had given the military until Wednesday to remove content that highlights diversity efforts in its ranks following President Donald Trump’s executive order ending those programs across the federal government.
The vast majority of the Pentagon purge targets women and minorities, including notable milestones made in the military. And it also removes a large number of posts that mention various commemorative months — such as those for Black and Hispanic people and women.
But a review of the database also underscores the confusion that has swirled among agencies about what to remove following Trump’s order.
Aircraft and fish projects are flagged
In some cases, photos seemed to be flagged for removal simply because their file included the word ”gay,” including service members with that last name and an image of the B-29 aircraft Enola Gay, which dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II.
Several photos of an Army Corps of Engineers dredging project in California were marked for deletion, apparently because a local engineer in the photo had the last name Gay. And a photo of Army Corps biologists was on the list, seemingly because it mentioned they were recording data about fish — including their weight, size, hatchery and gender.
In this image provided by the U.S. Air Force, the Boeing B-29 named the “Enola Gay” is seen on Tinian in the Marianas Islands.
U.S. Air Force via AP
In addition, some photos of the Tuskegee Airmen, the nation’s first Black military pilots who served in a segregated WWII unit, were listed on the database, but those may likely be protected due to historical content.
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The Air Force briefly removed new recruit training courses that included videos of the Tuskegee Airmen soon after Trump’s order. That drew the White House’s ire over “malicious compliance,” and the Air Force quickly reversed the removal.
Many of the images listed in the database already have been removed. Others were still visible Thursday, and it’s not clear if they will be taken down at some point or be allowed to stay, including images with historical significance such as those of the Tuskegee Airmen.
Asked about the database, Pentagon spokesman John Ullyot said in a statement, “We are pleased by the rapid compliance across the Department with the directive removing DEI content from all platforms. In the rare cases that content is removed that is out of the clearly outlined scope of the directive, we instruct components accordingly.”
He noted that Hegseth has declared that “DEI is dead” and that efforts to put one group ahead of another through DEI programs erodes camaraderie and threatens mission execution.
In some cases, the removal was partial. The main page in a post titled “Women’s History Month: All-female crew supports warfighters” was removed. But at least one of the photos in that collection about an all-female C-17 crew could still be accessed. A shot from the Army Corps of Engineers titled “Engineering pioneer remembered during Black History Month” was deleted.
Other photos flagged in the database but still visible Thursday included images of the World War II Women Air Service Pilots and one of U.S. Air Force Col. Jeannie Leavitt, the country’s first female fighter pilot.
Also still visible was an image of then-Pfc. Christina Fuentes Montenegro becoming one of the first three women to graduate from the Marine Corps’ Infantry Training Battalion and an image of Marine Corps World War II Medal of Honor recipient Pfc. Harold Gonsalves.
In this image provided by the U.S. Marine Corps, Pfc. Christina Fuentes Montenegro prepares to hike to her platoon’s defensive position during patrol week of Infantry Training Battalion near Camp Geiger, N.C. Oct. 31, 2013.
Sgt. Tyler Main/U.S. Marine Corps via AP
It was unclear why some other images were removed, such as a Marine Corps photo titled “Deadlift contenders raise the bar pound by pound” or a National Guard website image called “Minnesota brothers reunite in Kuwait.”
The database of the 26,000 images was created to conform with federal archival laws, so if the services are queried in the future, they can show how they are complying with the law, the U.S. official said. But it may be difficult to ensure the content was archived because the responsibility to ensure each image was preserved was the responsibility of each individual unit.
In many cases, workers are taking screenshots of the pages marked for removal, but it would be difficult to restore them if that decision was made, according to another official, who like the others spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide additional details that were not public.
A Marine Corps official said every one of its images in the database “either has been taken down or will be taken down.” The Marines are moving on the directive as fast as possible, but as with the rest of the military, very few civilian or contractor employees at the Pentagon can perform content removal, the official said.
In the Marine Corps, just one defense civilian is available to do the work. The Marine Corps estimates that person has identified at least 10,000 images for removal — and that does not count more than 1,600 social media sites that have not yet been addressed.
Many of those social media sites were military base or unit support groups created years ago and left idle. No one still has the administrative privileges to go in and change the content.
The Marine official said the service is going through each site and getting new administrative privileges so it can make the changes.
On Feb. 26, the Pentagon ordered all the military services to spend countless hours poring over years of website postings, photos, news articles and videos to remove any mentions that “promote diversity, equity and inclusion.”
If they couldn’t do that by Wednesday, they were told to “temporarily remove from public display” all content published during the Biden administration’s four years in office.
AP reporters Nicholas Riccardi in Denver, Christina Cassidy in Atlanta, Will Weissert and Ayanna Alexander in Washington and Christine Fernando in Chicago contributed to this report.
Rubio says Hamas must be ‘eradicated,’ throwing ceasefire into doubt – National
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday fully endorsed Israel’s conflict aims in the Gaza Strip, saying Hamas “must be eradicated” and throwing the shaky ceasefire into further doubt as talks on its second phase are yet to begin.
Rubio met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the start of a regional tour, where he is likely to face pushback from Arab leaders over U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal to transfer the Palestinian population out of Gaza and redevelop it under U.S. ownership.
Netanyahu has welcomed the plan, and said he and Trump have a “common strategy” for Gaza. Echoing Trump, he said “the gates of hell would be open” if Hamas doesn’t release dozens of remaining hostages abducted in the militant group’s attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that triggered the 16-month conflict.
The ceasefire’s first phase is set to end in two weeks and the second phase has yet to be negotiated, though talks were meant to begin two weeks ago. In the second phase, Hamas would release dozens of remaining hostages in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting truce and the withdrawal of Israeli forces
Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, told Fox News that “phase two is absolutely going to begin” and he had ”very productive” calls Sunday with Netanyahu and officials from Egypt and Qatar, which serve as mediators, about continuing talks this week. He also said hostages to be released include 19 Israeli soldiers and “we believe all of them are alive.”
Netanyahu’s office said Israel’s security Cabinet would meet Monday to discuss the second phase. Netanyahu also instructed negotiators to leave for Cairo on Monday to discuss further implementation of the first phase.
Rubio said Hamas can’t continue as a military or government force.
“As long as it stands as a force that can govern or as a force that can administer or as a force that can threaten by use of violence, peace becomes impossible,” he said. “It must be eradicated.”
Hamas reasserted control over Gaza when the ceasefire took hold last month despite suffering heavy losses.
Rubio is also set to visit the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, political heavyweights in the region.
The Israeli military, meanwhile, said it carried out an airstrike Sunday on people who approached its forces in southern Gaza. The Hamas-run Interior Ministry said the strike killed three of its police officers while they secured the entry of aid trucks near Rafah on the Egyptian border.
Resuming the conflict could doom hostages
This week marks 500 days of the conflict. Netanyahu has signaled readiness to resume the fighting after the ceasefire’s current phase, though it could be a death sentence for remaining hostages.
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Netanyahu has offered Hamas a chance to surrender and send its top leaders into exile. Hamas has rejected that scenario and insists on Palestinian rule. Spokesman Abdul Latif al-Qanou told The Associated Press the group accepts a Palestinian unity government or a technocratic committee to run Gaza.
Last week, Hamas threatened to hold up this weekend’s release of hostages because Netanyahu has yet to approve the entry of mobile homes and heavy machinery into Gaza as required by the ceasefire agreement. An Israeli official said on condition of anonymity in line with regulations that the issue would be discussed in the coming days, and Israel was coordinating with the United States.
In another sign of closing ranks, Israel’s Defense Ministry said it received a shipment of 2,000-pound (900-kilogram) MK-84 munitions from the United States. The Biden administration had paused a shipment of such bombs last year over concerns about civilian casualties in Gaza.
‘If someone has a better plan … that’s great’
In an interview last week, Rubio indicated that Trump’s Gaza proposal was in part aimed at pressuring Arab states to make their own post-conflict plan that would be acceptable to Israel.
Rubio also appeared to suggest that Arab countries send troops to combat Hamas.
“If someone has a better plan, and we hope they do, if the Arab countries have a better plan, then that’s great,” Rubio said Thursday on the “Clay and Buck Show.”
But “Hamas has guns,” he added. “Someone has to confront those guys. It’s not going to be American soldiers. And if the countries in the region can’t figure that piece out, then Israel is going to have to do it.”
Rubio wasn’t scheduled to meet with Palestinians on his trip to the Middle East.
Arabs have limited options
For Arab leaders, facilitating the mass expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza or battling Palestinian militants on behalf of Israel are nightmare scenarios that would bring fierce domestic criticism and potentially destabilize an already volatile region.
Egypt will host an Arab summit on Feb. 27 and is working with other countries on a counterproposal that would allow for Gaza to be rebuilt without removing its population. Human rights groups say the expulsion of Palestinians would likely violate international law.
Egypt has warned that any mass influx of Palestinians from Gaza would undermine its nearly half-century peace treaty with Israel, a cornerstone of U.S. influence in the region.
Arab and Muslim countries have conditioned any support for post-conflict Gaza on a return to Palestinian governance with a pathway to statehood in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories that Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast conflict.
Israel has ruled out a Palestinian state and any role in Gaza for the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, whose forces were driven out when Hamas seized power there in 2007.
Rubio to visit regional heavyweights
The UAE and Saudi Arabia have rejected any mass displacement of Palestinians and would be key to any regional response.
The UAE was the driving force behind the 2020 Abraham Accords in which four Arab states — Bahrain, the UAE, Morocco and Sudan — normalized relations with Israel during Trump’s previous term. Trump hopes to expand the accords to include Saudi Arabia, potentially offering closer U.S. defense ties, but the kingdom has said that it won’t normalize relations with Israel without a pathway to a Palestinian state.
Rubio won’t be visiting Egypt or Jordan, close U.S. allies at peace with Israel that have refused to accept any influx of Palestinian refugees. Trump has suggested that he might slash U.S. aid to them if they don’t comply, which could be devastating for their economies.
Rubio is also skipping Qatar.
—Natalie Melzer reported from Nahariya, Israel. Associated Press writer Samy Magdy contributed to this report from Cairo.
Could the U.S. actually make Canada a 51st state? How the process works – National
President Donald Trump has repeatedly said Canada should be the 51st U.S. state as he proposes to erase the 5,525-mile-long border that separates the two countries. The very notion is ludicrous to Canadians and the hurdles to transforming it into a state are sky high.
But in Trump’s thinking, the traditional Lower 48 states would become the contiguous 50 as the Canadian territory between the U.S. mainland and Alaska disappears, leaving Hawaii as the only non-continental state.
“If people wanted to play the game right, it would be 100% certain that they’d become a state,” Trump said recently.
Canada at first reacted as though Trump must be joking, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said flatly his country would never be the 51st state. Trudeau more recently suggested behind closed doors that Trump’s sustained annexation calls may not be just light talk and appear to be “a real thing.”
Here’s what it would take to transform Canada from a nation to a state:
What’s the process for adding a state?
Congress has to approve accepting a new state.
It takes only a House majority, but Senate filibuster rules require a minimum of 60 votes in the 100-member chamber to bring a bill to the floor — an insurmountable threshold for all kinds of key legislation.
The Constitution’s Admissions Clause, Article IV, Section 3, states: “New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.”
Any measure approving a new state that clears Congress would also have to be signed into law by the president. In the case of Canada, Trump has made it clear he would be eager to do so.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a Trump ally, joked on X when all 50 states certified Trump’s Electoral College victory last month, “They skipped Canada. We’ll fix that next time!”
No major legislation is advancing that would extend an invitation to statehood to America’s northern neighbor.
Doesn’t Canada have a say?
To say that most Canadian leaders aren’t interested in becoming a state would be an understatement. Ontario Premier Doug Ford, head of Canada’s most populous province, has spun out a counteroffer for Trump.
“How about, if we buy Alaska, and we’ll throw in Minnesota and Minneapolis at the same time,” he said, adding of Trump’s suggestion: “It’s not realistic.”
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There have been multiple past pathways to statehood — from the absorption of the 13 colonies under the Articles of Confederation, to Congress formally agreeing to Texas’ request to be annexed as the 28th state.
Most states were added after Congress accepted a petition from some territorial legislative body, which could include legislatures that Congress itself suggested forming as part of the process.
Canada would probably have to have a referendum to gauge voters’ interests in joining the U.S. before more detailed aspects of the process could begin — and that’s almost certainly a non-starter.
While not addressing Canada as the 51st state directly, polling last year from Gallup and the Pew Research Center shows that Americans overwhelmingly have a positive view of Canada — and that while Canadians view the U.S. more positively than negatively, their view may be a little more muted.
Trump’s threats of tariffs have left Canadians feeling betrayed, and sports fans in Canada have begun voicing their displeasure by booing the U.S. national anthem at NBA and NHL games.
How would adding Canada affect U.S. elections?
Profoundly — and that’s without speculating about whether a majority of Canadians might back Democrats or Republicans for president and in Congress.
If Canada were to join the U.S. — again, a highly unlikely prospect — its population of 41.6 million would make it the largest state, outpacing California’s 39.4 million residents. Canada would get two senators but also 55 House seats based on the average congressional district population following the 2020 U.S. census, which was 761,169 individuals.
That would make Canada the presidential race’s richest prize, with 57 Electoral College delegates — exceeding California’s 54.
The Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929, meanwhile, caps the number of House seats at 435, meaning that other state delegations would have to shrink to make room for the new Canadian members of the House — and, by extension, its delegates to the Electoral College.
Suddenly, make-or-break swing states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin would not look so important if there were tens of millions of Canadians waiting to be wooed with a presidential election on the line.
What about other potential new states?
Before Trump took office for his second term, debate around adding State No. 51 traditionally centered around Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C.
Puerto Rico is a U.S. commonwealth, and its voters have approved statehood in nonbinding referendums. Proposals to allow it become a state have repeatedly been introduced in Congress but not approved.
Washington, D.C., residents have voted in support of statehood and approved a state constitution and proposed boundaries. A bill admitting into the union the city as Washington, Douglass Commonwealth, passed the Democratic-controlled House as recently as 2021 but not the Senate.
Republicans now control both chambers, meaning they’ll likely oppose adding states that could be majority Democratic like Puerto Rico or D.C.
The nation’s capital gets three Electoral College votes for president under the Constitution’s 23rd Amendment, though it lacks voting representation in Congress. That’s why the Electoral College has 538 total delegates: 435 House members, 100 senators and three for D.C.
When was the last time the United States added a state?
Hawaii became the 50th state in 1959, nearly 18 years after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.
The island chain about 2,400 miles (3,900 kilometers) from the mainland United States was annexed as a U.S. territory by Congress in 1898. Many bills offering Hawaii statehood were subsequently introduced, but they stalled for decades amid racial discrimination and partisan disagreement.
By the early 1950s, Hawaii leaned Republican, and Democrats opposed its admission to the union without including Alaska, which was seen as more favorable to their party.
Alaska, separated from the mainland U.S. by about 500 miles (800 kilometers) of Canadian territory, was eventually admitted as State No. 49 in January 1959. That opened the door for Congress to approve Hawaii’s statehood that March, and Hawaiians voted to join the union on Aug. 21, 1959.
It turned out that Alaska has backed Republicans in every presidential election except 1964, while Hawaii has voted Democratic every presidential cycle but 1972 and 1984.
4 Nations Face-Off tournament set against backdrop of Canada-U.S. political tensions
Canada and the United States share the world’s longest border at nearly 9,000 kilometres.
The countries have interlinked economies and plenty in common culturally. The Peace Arch, straddling British Columbia and Washington state, is meant to symbolizes that friendship. The Peace Bridge, meanwhile, links Ontario and New York state.
The last few weeks haven’t felt all that peaceful.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced crippling tariffs — a 30-day reprieve was negotiated Feb. 3 — and continues to muse about making America’s northern neighbour its 51st state.
Despite the pause on a blanket tariff on Canadian goods, Trump said on Sunday that he will formally announce 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports into the U.S. on Monday, including those coming from Canada.
There have been, of course, plenty of disagreements and flashpoints in the past. Away from the political arena, that rivalry has perhaps been the fiercest when the countries’ athletes compete — especially on the ice.
The 4 Nations Face-Off, a tournament involving NHL players and featuring the North American rivals, starts Wednesday in Montreal.
Canada players (left to right) Connor McDavid, Sam Reinhart, Nathan MacKinnon and Sidney Crosby talk on the bench during 4 Nations Face-Off hockey practice in Montreal on Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. Canada will face Sweden on February 12.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi
So what will the current unease and tit-for-tat threats mean for a matchup that already has plenty of fuel?
“Canadians are nationalistic and proud,” said Daniel Rubenson, a political science professor at Toronto Metropolitan University. “They don’t want to be told they’re going to be subsumed by another country. The chances are pretty slim, but that rhetoric puts things on edge.”
Canadian crowds booed the American anthem at both NHL and NBA games in response to Trump’s tariff threats.
That trend slowed after both sides — Canada indicated it would respond with retaliatory tariffs if the U.S. followed through — took a step back from the ledge. Fans in Halifax didn’t jeer the anthem ahead of the countries’ recent women’s Rivalry Series hockey games.
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The crowd in Montreal for a pair of Canadiens’ contests over the weekend were largely respectful of the anthem.
But the city, where the Canadians and Americans square off Saturday in 4 Nations action, has a history of booing The Star-Spangled Banner, including in 2003 after the U.S. invaded Iraq.
“The political landscape is so unstable in the United States,” said Amy Bass, a professor of sports studies at Manhattanville University in Purchase, N.Y. “Having a definitive idea of what this game is going to mean and how it’s going to go down … we don’t know.”
Aaron Ettinger, an associate political science professor at Carleton University in Ottawa, said nationalism is always the subtext of international sports.
“That’s what makes it fun,” he said.
“It’s our country and our people against your country and your people.”
Ettinger, whose published work includes the intersection of sports and politics, added pride can play a big factor.
“Canadians like beating Americans at sports because we’re not really going to beat them at much else,” he said. “This time around, there’s some real stakes because the United States and its president are (threatening) something harmful to Canadian national interests.”
Canada’s main hockey rival was once the Soviet Union. Russia picked up the banner, but the U.S. has nudged its way to the top of the list over the last 30 years.
Canada hasn’t been unseated in the men’s game — at least not yet. The women have gone back and forth, while the Americans own three of the last the world junior hockey championships.
“That’s one place, maybe the only place, where Canada has been the big brother,” Rubenson said of the rink. “It’s been easy for Canadians to be generous toward Americans there.”
The rivalry has been tough yet friendly, he added, but the change in tone from the White House might signal a change in that relationship.
“Political and social issues can spill over,” Rubenson said.
Fans and politicians could get riled, but will the players actually care?
Many Canadians suit up for American-based teams. U.S. captain Auston Matthews, meanwhile, wears the ‘C’ for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“I don’t know if they live in the real world,” Ettinger said of NHL stars. “They generally live in the elite republic of hockey without much sense of what’s going on in the real world.”
Rubenson, whose specialization includes sports and politics, doesn’t expect much change in terms of the on-ice clash.
“That rivalry is already super intense,” he said. “Hardcore fans don’t need excuses. The media is going to drum this up and the fans are going to get riled up.
“Might make for great atmosphere — nothing wrong with that.”
While not a direct comparable or on the same scale, Bass said a Canadian victory at the 4 Nations could have a feel north of the border similar to the Americans’ triumph over the Soviets — the “Miracle on Ice” — at the 1980 Olympics.
“It was a Cold War victory,” she said. “Has the United States become the ‘big bad’? Taking down the United States is going to feel good for a whole new reason.”
Ettinger said that, in the end, the current cooling of relations is not so much Canada versus U.S. as Canada versus Trump.
“Americans, generally, have very favourable views of Canada,” he said. “The economic relationship is extraordinarily beneficial to both. It just happens to be that the guy manning the White House has really antagonistic orientations towards most foreign countries.
“Especially Canada.”
© 2025 The Canadian Press