In a trio of tweets Wednesday, President Trump abruptly announced he was banning thousands of transgender Americans from serving in the U.S. military.
Trump used his Twitter account to announce the ban that reverses a policy from former President Barack Obama and caught the Pentagon off guard.
After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow......— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017
....Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming.....— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017
....victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017
Transgender service members have been able to serve openly since 2016. Since Oct. 1, they’ve been able to receive medical care and start changing their gender identifications in the Pentagon’s personnel system.
Trump had initially delayed an Obama policy that would have let openly transgender people enlist effective July 1. Defense Secretary James Mattis (inset left) said in June he expected the Department of Defense to spend six months assessing how transgender recruits would affect the “readiness and lethality” of America’s armed forces.
At the time, Mattis said this “does not presuppose the outcome of the review.”
Mattis, who has been on vacation this week, was publicly silent and the Pentagon referred all questions to the White House.
It remained a mystery why Trump backed the ban now.
Politico reported that he lowered the boom to preserve a congressional spending bill aimed at funding his proposed Mexico border wall and a boost in overall Pentagon spending.
The White House did not outline Trump’s thinking beyond claiming his first concern was military safety.
Even the Pentagon seemed left in the dark.
The White House did not outline Trump’s thinking beyond claiming his first concern was military safety.
Even the Pentagon seemed left in the dark.
No comments:
Post a Comment