Military Officials: Transgender Troops Can Still Serve

The U.S. military will not immediately change its transgender service policy following a string of tweets from President Donald Trump this week, according to senior military officials.

The military will continue to "treat all of our personnel with respect" and "remain focused on accomplishing our assigned missions," Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, wrote in a message to service branch chiefs and senior military leaders.

U.S. President Donald Trump salutes alongside First Lady Melania Trump from Air Force One upon arrival at Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport in Vienna, Ohio, July 25, 2017, as they travel to Ohio to hold a rally.
Trump Reinstating Military’s Transgender Ban
“I know there are questions about yesterday's announcement on the transgender policy by the President,” Dunford said. “There will be no modifications to the current policy until the President's direction has been received by the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary has issued implementation guidance.”

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis reportedly was on vacation when the president tweeted about the ban. In an email obtained by USA Today, Vice Adm. Robert Burke, the Navy's personnel chief, said Mattis' office is "working to quickly discern the President's intent."

Meanwhile, Burke reportedly said Mattis, and thus the Navy, will not discharge transgender service members until additional guidance is given by the White House.

According to Fox News anchor Bret Baier, a Defense Department official also said that until formal guidance is issued, "nothing is going to change," and the president's tweets are not considered “formal guidance on transgender policy."

Former Defense Secretary Ash Carter ended the previous ban on transgender military service last year, and transgender troops have been able to obtain medical care as well as formally begin changing their gender in the Pentagon's personnel system since Oct. 1.

Trump's ban would keep transgender troops from serving in the military "in any capacity," the president said. His tweets sparked immediate criticism from both Democrats and Republicans, who called the ban discriminatory and thanked transgender service members for their service.