Trump team says ‘no decision’ yet on transgender US military ban
President-elect Donald Trump hasn’t decided whether to boot transgender service members from the military, his team said Monday — denying a report that claimed he plans to do so as soon as he returns to the White House.
Speculation about the possible ban started swirling when the UK outlet the Times, citing US defense sources, reported earlier Monday that Trump was planning to execute the sweeping executive order to remove all active trans service personnel from their posts.
“These unnamed sources are speculating and have no idea what they are actually talking about,” Trump’s spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told The Post.
“No decisions on this issue have been made.”
She added, “No policy should ever be deemed official unless it comes directly from President Trump or his authorized spokespeople.”
The Times had reported that all of the trans military personnel — an estimated 15,000 people — would be deemed unfit to serve and medically discharged.
The outlet’s sources claimed Trump’s planned order would also ban transgender people from joining the military in the future.
The measure could be signed as early as Jan. 20 — Trump’s inauguration day, the sources said.
If enacted, the policy would be broader than the one Trump issued during his first administration when he essentially allowed transgender service members to keep their jobs but prohibited future sign-ups.
That order, which went into effect in 2019, was immediately rescinded by President Biden when he took office in 2021.
The Times report surfaced after Trump tapped Fox News personality Pete Hegseth, a combat veteran, to serve as his secretary of defense.
Hegseth, who has done tours of duty in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay as an infantry officer, has been an advocate of exiling military leadership who enforce controversial diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
He also authored a best-selling book, “The War on Warriors,” in which he blamed the “woke military” for the recruiting crisis facing the nation’s armed services.
In nominating Hegseth for the defense post, Trump touted his nominee’s book, adding that he’s “tough, smart and a true believer in America First.
“The book reveals the leftwing betrayal of our warriors, and how we must return our Military to meritocracy, lethality, accountability, and excellence,” wrote the president-elect, who frequently railed against “woke generals,” on Truth Social.
“With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice — Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down.”
