Last month, without the knowledge of any aides or agencies associated with the Pentagon, President Trump tweeted out that he would not allow Transgender People to serve in the military.

Transgender policy under review

The President has already developed a reputation for lying, spreading false information and intentionally creating fake narratives in order to beat down his critics.

Such was the case with his tweets were at the time he said he had consulted with his generals. It's likely, however, that the President had been discussing the matter with generals back in June as Defense Secretary James Mattis had released a memo where he said that his department would need to further review transgender policy decisions left over from last year to see how it impacted defense.

Transgender costs

Despite the President's views that transgender people are a burden to the effectiveness of the U.S. military, the Defense Department had commissioned a study by the Rand Corporation last year which said differently. Their study said that because transgender people make up so little of the 1.3 million members of the military's force, effectiveness and health care costs make little to no difference to the effectiveness or even the budget for the force at all.

One of the costs that President Trump has pointed to, however, is the cost that would go to gender reassignment surgery.

Bradly/Chelsea Manning

Bradly Manning is a former soldier of the U.S. Army who was jailed in August 2013 for violating the Espionage Act. He violated it when he released classified information of human rights violations to Wikileaks.

His sentence would eventually be commuted by former President Obama and he was released in May 2017, but not before he started hormone therapy.

At the time that Manning was jailed, allowing transgender people to serve was still not an option for the military. A day after he began his sentencing, he requested to be referred to as Chelsea and continued to make an effort towards his new gender identity.

Hormone therapy was available if he was being held in a civilian facility but the military would not allow this. They would eventually give in and provide the therapy and surgery for Chelsea while in military custody.

President Trump's new position on transgender

Under the former Obama administration, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter moved to lift the ban against transgender people to serve in the military in June 2016. However, Carter allowed the Pentagon to review the decision for a year.

The already mentioned statement by Mattis was made on the eve of when that review was supposed to have been completed. Despite the President's claims during his campaign that he would fight for the transgender community, he has done everything but and signed a memorandum that would roll back that review. Earlier this year, the President moved to reverse the former administration's policy to allow trans people to use the bathroom of their choice.
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