President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has dismissed a report that he plans to remove all transgender people from serving in the U.S. military.
U.K. newspaper The Times reported on Monday, citing unnamed defense sources, that Trump was considering an executive order that would lead to around 15,000 active transgender service members being medically discharged. The order would also ban transgender people from joining the military.
During Trump’s first term, he prevented trans people from joining the military, but allowed those already serving to continue.
Trump’s transition team denied that any decisions on the issue had been made. Spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Newsweek that the unnamed sources “are speculating and have no idea what they are actually talking about.”
“No decisions on this issue have been made. No policy should ever be deemed official unless it comes directly from President Trump or his authorized spokespeople,” she said.
Seemingly unaware of the transition team’s denial, Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a prominent Trump supporter, responded to the reported ban on X, formerly Twitter, writing: “This will improve recruitment and save money.”
Rachel Branaman, the executive director of the charity Modern Military Association of America, was quoted in the Times article as warning that if such an order is implemented, it would harm unit cohesion and aggravate “critical skill gaps.” The charity campaigns on behalf of LGBTQ+ military personnel and veterans.
“Should a trans ban be implemented from Day One of the Trump administration it would undermine the readiness of the military and create an even greater recruitment and retention crisis, not to mention signaling vulnerability to America’s adversaries,” she said.
“Abruptly discharging 15,000-plus service members, especially given that the military’s recruiting targets fell short by 41,000 recruits last year, adds administrative burdens to war fighting units.
“There would be a significant financial cost, as well as a loss of experience and leadership that will take possibly 20 years and billions of dollars to replace.”
If Trump does reinstate the ban, it will mark a yearslong back-and-forth on the issue between successive administrations.
Transgender people were first able to serve in the military under Barack Obama. Trump subsequently reinstated a ban in 2018, preventing transgender people from joining. Joe Biden later reversed the ban in 2021.
Pete Hegseth’s stance on women in combat
Trump nominated Pete Hegseth, an Army veteran who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, for his defense secretary earlier this month.
Appearing on the podcast The Shawn Ryan Show earlier in November, Hegseth said that woman should not serve in combat.
“I’m straight up just saying we shouldn’t have women in combat roles. It hasn’t made us more effective, it hasn’t made us more lethal, it has made fighting more complicated,” he said.
Republicans and transgender issues
Meanwhile, the Republican Party is involved in other legislative battles against transgender people in Congress.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson announced a policy last week banning transgender women from using female bathrooms in the Capitol and House office buildings.
The move came days after GOP South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace introduced a bill to enact the ban following the election of Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender woman elected to Congress.
Mace also filed broader legislation that would apply to every federal building and federally funded school.
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NEWSWEEK
