Trump signs memo banning transgender recruits from US military

TIL Desk/World/Washington/ US President Donald Trump has signed a memo ordering the Pentagon to ban an Obama-era plan of recruiting transgender individuals in the military, a move Democrats said was “cruel” and meant to “hurt and humiliate” American soldiers.

In a memorandum, a copy of which was released by the White House, Trump directed the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of Homeland Security with respect to the US Coast Guard, to return to the longstanding practice on military service by transgender individuals that was in place prior to June 2016.

In the memorandum, Trump alleged that his predecessor Barack Obama dismantled the Defense Departments’ established framework by permitting transgender individuals to serve openly in the military, authorising the use of its resources to fund sex-reassignment surgical procedures, and permitting accession of such individuals after July 1, 2017.

In my judgement, the previous administration failed to identify a sufficient basis to conclude that terminating the departments longstanding policy and practice would not hinder military effectiveness and lethality, disrupt unit cohesion, or tax military resources, and there remain meaningful concerns that further study is needed to ensure that continued implementation of last years policy change would not have those negative effects,” Trump said.