Jan. 27 (UPI) — President Donald Trump signed executive orders Monday night to reshape the military as he focused on transgender service members; diversity, equity and inclusion programs; troops who refused COVID-19 vaccines and a missile defense system called the “Iron Dome.”
The president signed the four executive orders aboard Air Force One as he flew back to Washington, D.C., after speaking at a House GOP retreat in Florida.
While Trump did not immediately ban transgender service members from the armed forces, his executive order directs the Pentagon to come up with a policy for transgender troops based on readiness.
“Consistent with the military mission and longstanding DoD policy, expressing a false ‘gender identity’ divergent from an individual’s sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service,” the executive order reads.
“To ensure we have the most lethal fighting force in the world, we will get transgender ideology the hell out of our military. It’s going to be gone,” Trump told House Republicans on Monday at his property in Doral, Fla.
Trump’s second executive order bans the use of DEI, race or “gender ideologies” in the military. Last week, Trump signed an executive order to end DEI programs throughout the federal government, placing DEI workers on paid leave.
“I ordered the end to all of the lawless diversity, equity and inclusion nonsense policies across the government and all across the private sector and the military,” Trump said Monday. “We’re getting it out and we’ve gotten out pretty much. We did that in one week, and it wasn’t easy, but everybody wanted it.”
Earlier Monday, newly confirmed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters outside of the Pentagon that reinstating troops who resisted the COVID-19 mandates and creating a missile defense system were also among Trump’s executive orders.
“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 added.
Hegseth was confirmed Friday as defense secretary by a narrow margin of 51-50 in the U.S. Senate with Vice President JD Vance casting the tie-breaking vote. Monday marked his first official week on the job.
Trump’s third executive order directs Hegseth to reinstate all active and reserve military, who were discharged for failing to get the COVID-19 vaccine. The service members will be reinstated with their former rank and provided back pay and benefits. Approximately 8,000 service members were discharged between August 2021 and January 2023 for refusing COVID-19 mandates.
The fourth executive order would begin the process of creating a “next generation” short-range missile defense shield for the United States, much like Israel’s Iron Dome.
To “immediately begin the construction of a state-of-the-art Iron Dome missile defense shield, which will be able to protect Americans,” Trump added. The project is expected to take years.
“President Ronald Reagan endeavored to build an effective defense against nuclear attacks, and while this program resulted in many technological advances, it was canceled before its goal could be realized,” according to the executive order.
Shortly after his inauguration last week, Trump signed another executive order, recognizing only two genders, male and female. The president also revoked an executive order signed by former President Joe Biden in 2021 that allowed transgender people to serve in the military.
“It can take a minimum of 12 months for an individual to complete treatments after transition surgery, which often involves the use of heavy narcotics,” according to a fact sheet read by an official Monday, according to CNN. “During this period, they are not physically capable of meeting military readiness requirements and require ongoing medical care. This is not conducive for deployment or other readiness requirements.”
Independent research institute the Palm Center found in 2018 that there were an estimated 14,000 transgender service members in the U.S. military.
During his first term, Trump made exceptions for transgender service members already serving in uniform before his ban took effect, including for those who do not require a gender change and those who had been “stable for 36 consecutive months in their biological sex prior to accession,” according to a Pentagon memo dated Feb. 22, 2018.
On Monday, officials with Veterans Affairs announced its “initial implementation” of Trump’s executive order to end DEI programs and put 60 employees on paid leave.
“Under President Trump, VA is laser-focused on providing the best possible care and benefits to veterans, their families, caregivers and survivors,” said VA director of Media Affairs Morgan Ackley.
“We are proud to have abandoned the divisive DEI policies of the past and pivot back to VA’s core mission.”
