Trump says bar transgender troops from US military
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump declared a ban Wednesday on transgender troops serving in the U.S. military.
“Please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military,” the commander in chief wrote on Twitter.
Trump wrote that he had consulted with “my generals and military experts,” but he did not mention Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, the retired Marine general who recently told the military service chiefs to spend another six months weighing the costs and benefits of allowing transgender individuals to enlist.
The number of transgender people currently serving is unknown. A Rand Corp. study has estimated the number at between 1,320 and 6,630 out of 1.3 million active-duty troops.
Reaction to Trump’s declaration was mixed.
His action is “harmful, misguided and weakens, not strengthens our military,” said Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.
John McCain, the Arizona Republican and Vietnam War hero, said Trump was wrong.
“Any American who meets current medical and readiness standards should be allowed to continue serving,” he said.
Supporters of Trump’s statements praised the president for re-focusing the military on its tasks of protecting the nation and defeating foreign enemies.
Rep. Duncan Hunter, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said, “The president’s decision was the absolute right decision. ... It’s about time that a decision is made to restore the warrior culture and allow the U.S. military to get back to business.”
Transgender people already in uniform were concerned about what comes next.
“Everybody is hurt, everybody is scared,” said Rudy Akbarian, 26, who
is in the military but did not want to identify his branch.
Akbarian, who said his chain of command was supportive as he transitioned from female to male, said his time to re-enlist is coming up and he might stay to ensure there is a strong voice for transgender troops like himself.
“I’m going to remain hopeful,” he said. “America is really progressive and definitely smart, and there are a lot of transgender members serving in critical roles.”
Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said the Pentagon was working with the White House to “address the new guidance” from Trump. That suggested there is not yet any new written policy or executive order.
Transgender service members have been able to serve openly only since last year. Since Oct. 1, transgender troops could receive medical care and start changing their gender identifications in the Pentagon’s personnel system.
Carter also gave the services until July 1 to develop policies to allow people already identifying as transgender to join the military if they normal standards and have been stable in their identified genders for 18 months.
On June 30, Mattis extended the July 1 deadline to next Jan. 1, saying the services should study the impact on the “readiness and lethality of our forces.”
Unlike several of his pred- ecessors under the Obama administration, combat effectiveness has been the prism through which Mattis has viewed most, if not all, military matters.
Last week he ordered a high-level Pentagon review aimed at verifying that all military personnel policies “support and enhance warfighting readiness and force lethality.”
In a series of tweets, Trump said allowing transgender troops to serve is an unacceptable burden on the military’s ability to fight and win wars.
“Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail,” he wrote.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for an estimate of these costs. The Rand Corp., a federally funded think tank, has estimated that each year between 29 and 129 service members will seek transitionrelated care that could disrupt their ability to deploy. It also estimated that extending gender transition-related health care coverage to transgender personnel would cost the military $2.4 million to $8.4 million a year.
Trump has long been supportive of gays and lesbians. A proponent of gay marriage, he has promised to be a “real friend” of their community.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump had made “a military decision.” She said it was his judgment that allowing transgender service “erodes military readiness and unit cohesion.”
Sanders said the “president’s national security team was part of this consultation” and that Trump “informed” Mattis of his decision immediately after he made it on Tuesday.
Carter, who served as defense secretary the last two years of Obama’s presidency, issued a statement criticizing Trump’s move.