Trump Deals a Blow to Michelle Obama, All Women

The Trump administration has dealt another blow to women and girls and to Michelle Obama's legacy with his plan to discontinue "Let Girls Learn," a program that the First Lady and President Barack Obama kicked off in 2015 to afford educational opportunities for girls in developing countries, CNN reported.

"Let Girls Learn," was an effort among several government agencies including the State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Peace Corps, the U.S. Department of Labor, and the U.S. President's Emergency Fund for AIDS, among others, which in the two years since it launched helped offer educational programs to adolescent girls in dozens of countries.

A Trump administration internal document acquired by CNN acquired noted that the initiative would halt immediately, and that while some programs would continue, employees were told to stop using the name "Let Girls Learn."

"Moving forward, we will not continue to use the 'Let Girls Learn' brand or maintain a stand-alone program," the Peace Corps's acting director Sheila Crowley wrote in an email this week, according to CNN.

'Let Girls Learn' provided a platform to showcase Peace Corps' strength in community development, shining a bright light on the work of our Volunteers all over the world," Crowley wrote. "We are so proud of what 'Let Girls Learn' accomplished and we have all of you to thank for this success."

While the program, which has raised hundreds of millions for girls all over the world, has been shuttered, it's not Trump's only attempt this week to dismantle Michelle Obama's work over the eight years she occupied the White House. The First Lady worked arduously to ensure school kids received proper nutrition with the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, part of her 2010 "Let's Move!" initiative to help stamp out childhood obesity. On Monday, Trump's Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced a loosening of restrictions put in place under the First Lady's initiative that called for sodium restrictions, whole grain requirements, and the availability of fat-free milk, according to ABC.

In his confusing remarks regarding the changes to school lunches, Perdue insisted that the administration was not "winding back" school lunch standards but said, "We are just slowing down the process," according to ABC. Then, Perdue, a grown man, told reporters, "I wouldn't be as big as I am today without chocolate milk," even as he failed to address its high sugar content.

Discontinuing the "Let Girls Learn" program is another slap in the face from the Trump administration to the women of the world since he took office. Just three days after his inauguration and two days after the record-breaking global Women's Marches, Trump signed an executive order that that bans U.S. aid to overseas non-governmental organizations that provide or advise on abortions. Last month, on #EqualPayDay, it came to light that Trump had rescinded President Obama's Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces order, the rolling back of which negatively impacts women in terms of fair pay and harassment suits.