The following is a timeline of instances of extremism in the Trump administration in December 2017.
President Trump has opened the White House doors to extremism, not only consulting with hate groups on policies that erode our country’s civil rights protections but enabling the infiltration of extremist ideas into the administration’s rhetoric and agenda.
Once relegated to the fringes, the radical right now has a toehold in the White House.
Groups and individuals referenced in the list below are not associated with hate groups and extremist ideology unless indicated by a hate group profile.
Radical Right
Dec 7
Trump’s pick for UN ambassador, Patrick Murray, who shared an image defending Cliven Bundy and praised alt-right figure Milo Yiannopoulos, clears Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Anti-Immigrant
Dec 8
Supreme Court blocks order for White House to disclose documents related to its decision to end DACA
White Nationalist
Hate Group
Dec 8
Trump’s judicial nominee, Brett Talley, is withdrawn after revelations of his blog post defending an early KKK leader
Anti-LGBT
Dec 11
US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejects DOJ’s request to stay a ruling against Trump’s ban on transgender military service
Anti-LGBT
Dec 11
US Court of Appeals for Western Washington Circuit rejects DOJ’s request to stay a ruling against Trump’s ban on transgender military service
Anti-LGBT
Dec 11
DOJ requests emergency stay to court decision requiring the Defense Department to begin accepting transgender recruits on Jan. 1
Anti-Immigrant
Dec 11
Trump says family-based immigration is “incompatible with national security”
Anti-Immigrant
Dec 11
Complaint accuses DHS of increasingly separating families at the border
Anti-LGBT
Dec 13
Senate confirms anti-LGBT judicial nominee Leonard Steven Grasz to a lifetime appointment to the US Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit
Anti-Immigrant
Dec 13
DOJ files motion to vacate guilty verdict against anti-immigrant former Sheriff Joe Arpaio
Anti-LGBT
Dec 14
The CDC is purportedly barred from using “diversity,” “fetus,” “transgender,” “vulnerable,” “entitlement,” “science-based,” and “evidence-based” in their 2018 budget documents – a claim later denied by HHS officials
Anti-LGBT
Hate Group
Dec 15
White House Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley appears on anti-LGBT hate group Family Research Council’s radio program to discuss the tax bill
Anti-Immigrant
Dec 15
DHS announces it intends to do away with work permits for spouses of highly-skilled H-1B visa holders
Hate
Dec 16
The White House denounces the use of Trump’s name to invoke bigotry and violence, calling it “contemptible”
Anti-LGBT
Dec 18
A panel of former military surgeons general reports that the Pentagon is exaggerating the time necessary to implement a trans-inclusive policy
Anti-LGBT
Dec 21
US Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit rejects the Trump administration’s request to stay a ruling against its ban on transgender military service
Anti-Immigrant
Dec 22
The White House considers separating families to curb illegal immigration
Anti-Muslim
Dec 22
US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit rules Trump’s Muslim ban violates federal law, but can remain as legal challenges are heard
Anti-LGBT
Dec 22
US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejects Trump administration’s request to stay a ruling against its ban on transgender military service
Anti-Muslim
Dec 24
Federal judge blocks Trump administration’s restrictions on reuniting refugee families and partially lifts “Muslim ban”