President Donald Trump is the first president in 116 years who will not be invited to the NAACP's national convention, The Associated Press reported.
The NAACP declined to invite the president because the organization says Trump is working against its mission.
“This has nothing to do with political party,” NAACP President Derrick Johnson told AP. “Our mission is to advance civil rights, and the current president has made clear that his mission is to eliminate civil rights.”
The second Trump administration has taken multiple steps to roll back civil rights protections for historically marginalized communities. One of Trump's first executive orders, issued in January 2025, directed federal agencies to no longer use diversity, equity, and inclusion practices in their hiring decision, calling them "illegal and immoral discrimination programs."
Since then, Trump has issued orders to "remove" DEI from the Foreign Service, investigate private companies that promote DEI, and eliminate DEI from civil and uniformed military service.
Instead, the Trump administration has promoted "merit-based" hiring practices across the federal government.
The NAACP has filed multiple lawsuits against the Trump administration challenging the administration's DEI orders.
Trump has also moved to reshape the way the federal government enforces civil rights laws. He appointed Federalist Society member Harmeet Dillon to lead the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division. Dillon has previously said U.S. civil rights law should "benefit all Americans, not just a select few," according to NPR.
Republican presidents like George Bush and Ronald Reagan have been invited to attend the NAACP's convention in previous years, even though the organization criticized some of their civil rights policies.