REPORT: Donald Trump to kick transgender troops out of US military.
Donald Trump is planning an executive order that would lead to the removal of all transgender members of the US military, defence sources say.
The order could come on his first day back in the White House, January 20. There are believed to be about 15,000 active service personnel who are transgender. They would be medically discharged, which would determine that they were unfit to serve.
It would also lead to a ban on trans people joining the military and would come at a time when almost all branches of the American armed forces are failing to meet recruitment targets.
Trump, 78, has railed against “woke” practices in the military, saying that some high-ranking officers are often more interested in diversity, equity and inclusion than planning to fight.
The ban is expected to be wider ranging than a similar order made during his first term in office, when Trump prevented transgender people joining the armed forces, but allowed those already serving to keep their jobs. President Biden rescinded the order, but this time even those with decades of service will be removed from their posts, according to several sources.
“These people will be forced out at a time when the military can’t recruit enough people,” a source familiar with Trump’s plans said. “Only the Marine Corps is hitting its numbers for recruitment and some people who will be affected are in very senior positions.”
According to the Pentagon, privacy policies make it difficult to measure the number of active duty trans people, but about 2,200 service members had been diagnosed with gender dysphoria in 2021, when Trump’s first ban was lifted.
There are about 1.3 million active duty personnel in the military.
There are believed to be thousands of other personnel who identify as transgender.
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You cannot argue with this logic. He’s 100% correct. And he’s going to be perfect as Secretary of Defense and that is why they hate this pick so much. pic.twitter.com/8dBdhlMOYk
— Insurrection Barbie (@DefiyantlyFree) November 14, 2024
More: Kurt Schlichter: SecDef Pete Hegseth Will Be a Welcome Injection of Vitamin I (Infantry).
As Glenn wrote in the New York Post, Trump’s first days in office should be a massive case of shock and awe: “It won’t all pass, of course, but much of it probably will — and the legislative fights will keep Democrats too busy to attack elsewhere. Given Trump’s deal-making style, some of these bills may even carve off key Democratic constituencies, encouraging division among his foes.”