Trump was asked why he put the ban on transgender people serving in the military during an interview with ITV’s Piers Morgan on “Good Morning Britain” that aired Wednesday morning in the U.K., according to Bloomberg.
“Because they take massive amounts of drugs, they have to,” Trump said. “You’re not allowed to take drugs, you’re in the military you’re not allowed to take any drugs. And they have to after the operation, they have to, they have no choice, they have to. You would actually have to break rules and regulations in order to have that.”
Trump went on to say, “I’m proud of them, but you have to have a standard, and you have to stick by that standard, and we have a great military and I want to keep it that way.”
'You have to have a standard and you have to stick by that standard.’
The POTUS defends his decision to ban transgender people from serving in the military.piersmorgan | GMBTrump heBUjhwiUH
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) June 5, 2019
In a study released by the RAND Corporation in 2016, they found around 10,000 transgender people were serving in the U.S. military. However, the Pentagon has spent just $8 million on transgender health care since 2016, a tiny percentage of the military’s annual health care budget of more than $50 billion, the Associated Press reported in March, according to the Huffington Post.
Trump’s transgender ban went into effect in April, despite there being several lawsuits going through the courts. The U.S. Supreme Court told the Trump administration its ban could go into effect while the cases made their way through the court system in January.
Morgan also asked Trump about a tweet he sent out last month recognizing June as Pride Month, despite his stance on transgender people in the military. “It is what it is,” Trump said during his response. “And also massive amounts of people going in and then asking for the operation, and the operation is $200,000, $250,000, and they have to take large amounts of drugs for that, large amounts, and you can’t do that.”
As we celebrate LGBT Pride Month and recognize the outstanding contributions LGBT people have made to our great Nation, let us also stand in solidarity with the many LGBT people who live in dozens of countries worldwide that punish, imprison, or even execute individuals….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2019
According to USA Today, under the Pentagon’s new policy, all transgender medical care is forbidden. Any service members diagnosed with gender dysphoria can remain in the military only if they undergo “counseling” to suppress who they are, despite clear evidence that such an approach is harmful and ineffective.
The American Medical Association and other physicians groups unequivocally recognize the medical necessity of transition-related care. The medical community recognizes gender transition as the standard of care — the only evidence-based, medically effective treatment for gender dysphoria.
