Donald Trump has moved to change the US government's policies on gender and diversity, following through on promises he made on the campaign trail.

"As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female," Trump said during his inaugural address.

The Trump administration indicated he would sign an executive order Monday that would recognise two sexes only - male and female – and declare that they cannot be changed.

The move is part of Trump's wider promises about what conservatives decry as "woke" culture, gender and diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) progammes.

An administration official said the executive order would "end DEI inside the federal government", cutting funding to DEI programmes across all agencies and including a review of offices renamed because of DEI initiatives.

The administration did not say whether action would extend to the private sector, with an official saying businesses should "wait and see".

Several large US companies have ended or scaled back their DEI programmes since Trump was elected, including McDonald's, Walmart and Facebook parent company Meta.

Others, like Apple and retailers Target and Costco, publicly defended their existing programmes.

DEI supporters see the programmes as a way to correct lingering discrimination based on race, sexuality and other characteristics. The idea received renewed attention in the wake of racial justice protests after the murder of George Floyd in 2020.