President Donald Trump on Monday announced he had signed four executive orders that will reshape the military, including banning transgender service members from serving in the US armed forces; gutting the military’s diversity, equity, and inclusion programs; and reinstating back pay service members who were discharged for refusing to get vaccinated from Covid-19.
Trump said he signed the executive orders while aboard Air Force One on a return flight to Washington from Florida.
Moments after he arrived at the Pentagon on Monday, Hegseth told reporters that there are “more executive orders coming.”
“Today, there are more executive orders coming, … on removing DEI inside the Pentagon, reinstating troops who were pushed out because of Covid mandates, iron dome for America — this is happening quickly, and as the secretary of defense, it’s an honor to salute smartly as I did as a junior officer and now as the secretary of defense to ensure these orders are complied with rapidly and quickly,” Hegseth said.
Trump had banned transgender Americans from serving in the military in 2017 during his first administration, but then-President Joe Biden issued an order in 2021 repealing the ban.
Hours after being sworn in for his second term last week, Trump signed an order revoking the Biden administration’s 2021 move to allow transgender members to serve.
However, the order Trump announced he had signed Monday goes even further, one of the officials said, and outlines new military standards regarding gender pronouns and states that mental and physical readiness requires transgender service members be banned from the military
