Advertisement Trump: Transgender individuals not allowed to serve in military An estimate says more than 15,000 transgender people are serving in the military Share Shares Copy Link Copy

Reversing an Obama-era policy, President Donald Trump announced Wednesday morning that the government "will not accept or allow" transgender citizens to serve in the military.In a set of tweets, Trump cited the "tremendous medical costs and disruption" that the individuals serving in the armed forces would entail. The announcement says nothing specific about transgender people who are currently serving."After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military," the tweets read. "Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you."In a statement, the Department of Defense referred all questions about the president's announcement to the White House."We will continue to work closely with the White House to address the new guidance provided by the Commander-in-Chief on transgender individuals serving in the military. We will provide revised guidance to the Department in the near future," Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Savis said.In a statement, Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Sen. John McCain decried the president's announcement being made on Twitter and said it was "unclear.""There is no reason to force service members who are able to fight, train, and deploy to leave the military -- regardless of their gender identity," he said in a statement. "We should all be guided by the principle that any American who wants to serve our country and is able to meet the standards should have the opportunity to do so -- and should be treated as the patriots they are."McCain also said no new policy should be implemented until the Department of Defense finishes a study on the impact of medical costs associated with allowing transgender individuals to enlist.The number of active transgender service members is difficult to pin down. A 2016 Rand Corp. study estimated between 1,360 to 6,620 members, while a UCLA School of Law report estimated 15,500 transgender people were either on active duty or serving in the National Guard or Reserve forces as of May 2014, when they could not serve openly.The Rand Corp. study said the cost of gender transition and related health care treatments would have a "relatively low" impact on active costs of between $2.4 million and $8.4 million, a 0.04 to 0.13 percent increase.While a policy was put in place last year to allow transgender individuals in the military, a review remained ongoing. They were able to serve openly in the armed forces since last year, but not allowed to enlist as new recruits. A decision on whether to allow them to enlist was delayed at the end of June by six months.The delay was implemented to evaluate "more carefully the impact of such accession on readiness and lethality," Defense Secretary James Mattis said in a memo after the delay was annpThe Defense Department's policy before Trump's announcement said transgender service members could not be "discharged or otherwise separated from the military solely for being transgender individuals." Discrimination against a service member based on their gender identity could be addressed through the department's equal opportunity channels.READ: The Defense Department's transgender policy before today's announcement.Vicki Hartzler, a Republican representative from Missouri, agreed with Trump's decision, tweeting she is "pleased to hear shares my readiness and cost concerns & will be changing this costly and damaging policy #readiness."The bipartisan LGBT Caucus blasted the move, saying Trump "spits in the face of brave, transgender soldiers."Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, a double amputee veteran of the Iraq War, said that when her Black Hawk helicopter was shot down, she didn't care "if the American troops risking their lives to help save me were gay, straight, transgender or anything else. All that mattered was they didn't leave me behind."Prominent transgender figures also spoke out against the decision.Caitlyn Jenner, a transgender rights activist and Republican, used Trump's comments from the campaign trail to question the president: "There are 15,000 patriotic transgender Americans in the US military fighting for all of us," she tweeted. "What happened to your promise to fight for them?"Emmy-nominated actress Laverne Cox, a transgender woman, said on Twitter "My fellow trans Americans, despite what some may say your existence is valuable. Your lives, safety & service matter."The ACLU said "there is no basis for turning trans people away from our military" in a statement. An attorney for the group has already reached out to transgender service members and reservists over the decision.On Tuesday, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen offered support to transgender soldiers, urging Congress to avoid dictating policy to the Pentagon on whether to offer medical support. Mullen led opposition to the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy and the barring of gay troops."I led our armed forces under the flawed 'Don’t ask, Don’t tell' policy and saw firsthand the harm to readiness and morale when we fail to treat all service members according to the same standards,” Mullen said in a statement to USA Today. “Thousands of transgender Americans are currently serving in uniform and there is no reason to single out these brave men and women and deny them the medical care that they require."