Military Gender Policy Overhauled Trump Ends Taxpayer-Funded Transitions

President Donald Trump is set to sign an executive order barring taxpayer dollars from funding gender transition surgeries for military members. This decisive action aims to restore focus on military readiness and eliminate what Trump has called “gender insanity” within the armed forces.

The executive order will revoke Biden-era policies that allowed service members to access taxpayer-funded gender transition surgeries and other accommodations tied to gender ideology. Biden’s Executive Order 14004, which opened the door to radical gender policies within the Department of Defense (DOD), will also be repealed.

Key Details of the Order

• Prohibits males from using female-only sleeping, changing, and bathing facilities in military settings.

• Bans the use of military funds for gender surgeries for service members and their dependents.

• Rescinds policies that compromise military readiness in favor of social engineering.

The Trump administration has made it clear: the military’s priority is to remain focused on readiness, strength, and lethality. A White House document accompanying the order states, “Fitness, health, welfare, and readiness standards must ensure that our military members are able to deploy, fight, and win. On the battlefield, there can be no accommodation for anything less than strength and ability to withstand extraordinary physical demands.”

Under President Biden, the Pentagon embraced policies that funneled millions of taxpayer dollars into gender surgeries for military members and their families. These surgeries often leave individuals nondeployable for a year or longer. Recovery periods, reliance on narcotics, and the need for ongoing medical care compromise military readiness and make these service members a liability in combat situations.

Biden’s DOD has not disclosed how many trans-identifying service members currently serve in the military, but activist groups claim there are over 15,000. However, a 2021 Department of Defense report identified just 2,200 service members with gender dysphoria seeking medical care.

Army Ranger veteran William Thibeau, now the director of the Claremont Institute’s American Military Project, praised Trump’s move as “necessary to restore Americans’ faith that the military is no longer an institution meant for politics and ideology, but lethality.”

Jay Richards of The Heritage Foundation echoed these sentiments, noting that Trump’s actions prioritize military readiness over using the armed forces as “a laboratory for social engineering and gender ideology boosterism.”

This isn’t the first time Trump has taken a stand on the issue. In 2017, his administration barred transgender troops from serving, citing a Department of Defense study showing that post-surgery service members were often nondeployable for over 200 days. The Supreme Court upheld this decision in 2019.

Biden reversed Trump’s ban shortly after taking office, allowing service members to pursue gender transitions at taxpayer expense. Critics, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, have lambasted these policies as detrimental to the military’s core mission.

Hegseth, a Trump ally and author of The War on Warriors, noted the absurdity of Biden-era policies. “Men and women could join the military for the express purpose of transitioning, be nondeployable for a year, and take life-altering hormone therapy that would mean they would be nondeployable unless the military could guarantee the supply of medication,” he wrote.

Trump has made clear his vision for the military: “You need people that want to win. They want to win wars. That’s what their purpose is, to win wars not to be woke.” His order reflects a broader effort to cut through the radical ideology that has seeped into America’s most vital institutions under Democratic leadership.

As the 2024 election approaches, Trump’s actions signal his continued commitment to reversing Biden’s failed policies and ensuring the military remains a force prepared to meet the nation’s security challenges head-on.

Share this article with your friends and subscribe to our newsletter to stay informed.