Trump Moves Toward Pushing Openly Transgender People Out of Military
President Trump on Monday moved toward pushing openly transgender people out of the military, directed the Pentagon to end diversity programs and ordered the reinstatement of many service members dismissed for refusing the coronavirus vaccine as he sought to reshape America’s armed forces.
The directives, contained in a batch of executive orders, advanced what Mr. Trump and his new defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, have described as an effort to return the military to an unapologetically masculine professional culture, while rejecting the sorts of equitable hiring and staffing practices that Mr.
Hegseth has blamed for lowering the military’s standards and warfighting capacity. In some respects, the orders on Monday mirrored others Mr.
Trump signed last week aimed at eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs across the federal government and limiting government recognition of an individual’s gender to their sex at birth.
