Costco defied Trump’s DEI directive as Target and Walmart scaled back. Business is booming

Costco is emerging as a high‑profile test case for whether Big Business can buck President Donald Trump’s crackdown on corporate diversity—and still win with investors and shoppers alike. While rivals like Target and Walmart have moved to scale back diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in response to political and legal pressure from Washington, Costco has largely held its course—and its business is thriving.

Over the past year, Costco’s board and chief executive Ron Vachris...