Trump order would ban most transgender troops from serving
President Donald Trump gestures to people cheering him across the tarmac as he, arrives on Air Force One with first lady Melania Trump and their son Barron Trump at Palm Beach International Airport, in West Palm Beach, Fla., Friday, March 23, 2018. AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster
PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump is issuing an order to ban transgender people from serving in the military except under "limited circumstances," following up on his calls to ban transgender individuals from serving.
The White House says retaining troops with a history or diagnosis of "gender dysphoria" — those who may require substantial medical treatment — "presents considerable risk to military effectiveness and lethality."
Trump received recommendations from Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in February for dealing with transgender individuals serving in the military.
Trump surprised the Pentagon's leadership in a 2017 tweet when he declared he would reverse an Obama-era plan to allow transgender individuals to serve openly.
His push for the ban has been blocked by several legal challenges, and the Pentagon began allowing transgender recruits to seek enlistment in January.
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