US President Donald Trump said Monday he had signed an executive order ridding the military of what he called "transgender ideology," in a potentially major setback for LGBTQ rights, APA reports citing NDTV.
In a series of orders related to the military that Trump told reporters he had signed on Air Force One, he also called for the building of a US version of Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system.
The Republicans signed further orders reinstating service members dismissed for refusing to take the Covid vaccine, and extending a wider government crackdown on diversity programs to the armed forces.
"To ensure that we have the most lethal fighting force in the world, we will get transgender ideology the hell out of our military," Trump told a Republican congressional retreat earlier in Miami.
Trump has previously promised to bring back a ban on transgender troops, but it was not immediately clear what specific steps were contained in the new order, which has not yet been published.
A White House official with him said the order involved "eliminating gender radicalism in the military."
Trump's orders came at the start of his second week back in the White House and on the day a welcome ceremony was held at the Pentagon for his new defense secretary, military veteran and Fox News personality Pete Hegseth.
"Thank you for your leadership Mr President. We will execute!" Hegseth -- who was confirmed last week despite concerns over his inexperience, and alleged record of heavy drinking and domestic violence -- said on X.
Transgender Americans have faced a roller coaster of changing policies on military service in recent years, with Democratic administrations seeking to permit them to serve openly while Trump has repeatedly sought to keep them out of the ranks.
The US military lifted a ban on transgender troops serving in the armed forces in 2016, during Democrat Barack Obama's second term as president.
Under that policy, trans troops already serving were permitted to do so openly, and transgender recruits were set to start being accepted by July 1, 2017.
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