Gen. Joseph Dunford
Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the joint chiefs, announced there will be no change of policy regarding transgender service personnel as a result of a presidential tweet. A tweet is not an executive order. Yesterday’s presidential tweet said no transgender people could serve in the armed forces.
Dunford released the following statement:
“I know there are questions about yesterday’s announcement on the transgender policy by the President. There will be no modifications to the current policy until the President’s direction has been received by the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary has issued implementation guidance. In the meantime, we will continue to treat all of our personnel with respect. As importantly, given the current fight and the challenges we face, we will all remain focused on accomplishing our assigned missions.”
Not only have Democrats roundly criticized the recent tweet. Sen John McCain said:
“The President’s tweet … regarding transgender Americans in the military is yet another example of why major policy announcements should not be made via Twitter. … There is no reason to force service members who are able to fight, train, and deploy to leave the military — regardless of their gender identity. We should all be guided by the principle that any American who wants to serve our country and is able to meet the standards should have the opportunity to do so — and should be treated as the patriots they are.”
And according to The Independent, the U.S. military spends five times as much on Viagra as it would cost for all transgender healthcare. Trump claimed the reason for his trans ban is how much trans healthcare would cost the military.
In addition, more money was spent on Trump’s trips to Mar-a-lago in his first 100 days than the cost of trans healthcare.
