Did Trump Jump The Gun On Military Transgender Ban, Blindsiding Top Brass?

The military’s transgender ban is far from being initiated, it is not a ban that has been put through the proper channels as of yet, according to the latest reports from Washington. On Wednesday, Trump’s tweets gave the impression that the transgender ban was in place, but it has been revealed that the Joint Chiefs of Staff were blindsided by Trump’s tweet. According to Fox News live on Thursday afternoon, the Joint Chiefs of Staff were not informed about Trump attempting to place a ban on transgender individuals serving in the military via a tweet.

CNN News reports the Joint Chiefs of Staff, including the chairman, General Joseph Dunford, were not informed of Trump’s intentions. The top military leaders across all four of the branches of the service were “blindsided by the President’s announcement.” Dunford has informed the U.S. service members that until the Secretary of Defense receives direction from the president, and the secretary implicates guidelines, there are no “modifications to the current policy.”

CNN was able to obtain a memo that was issued by Dunford. In that memo the writes, “In the meantime, we will continue to treat all of our personnel with respect.” Dunford also conveys that the focus in the military will remain on “accomplishing our assigned missions.” The news today is very different than what Donald Trump passed along yesterday. In a series of tweets, Trump stated the following.

“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.”

"Growing GOP backlash to transgender troop ban underscores Trump’s political miscalculation" https://t.co/v7auVhXHi8

— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) July 27, 2017

This caused outrage across the nation, with news of the ban causing quite the fury almost instantly across social media sites. No details emerged with the blanket statement that Trump tweeted out to the masses, leaving some in the military, who are transgendered individuals, not knowing if they had one foot out the door yesterday or not.

There was no timeline offered as to when the military would become void of all transgendered individuals. When asked at a press conference yesterday if Trump was planning to just send the transgendered individuals serving in the military home, Sarah Huckabee Sanders said they were working on those details.

According to CNN, an official who spoke with their network said that Trump did consult with Defense Secretary James Mattis about his plan to announce a ban. There was a six-month delay set by Mattis so he could review the military’s policy on transgender individuals in the service. Despite that delay, Trump’s series of tweets, which seemingly put that ban in place, came less than a month after Mattis’ was into that delay timeline.

A tweet by a President is neither a law nor an executive order. https://t.co/PMM4CBjlCv

— The New Yorker (@NewYorker) July 27, 2017

John McCain had no idea that Trump was about to make this announcement, and he told reporters he was surprised. He also offered up a few words on what is happening now.

“I think they realize they made a mistake. I think, generally speaking, it’s accepted you consult the secretary of defense before you make a decision that has to do with defending the nation. Mattis was going through a study that they’d done for six months, and he had just extended.”

McCain, who is the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said that Mattis had conveyed he wanted to complete the study before making a decision. McCain wasn’t the only one who was surprised about the tweeted ban. When it comes to Mattis, “he was surprised,” McCain said. According to CNN, despite Trump stating that he had discussed this with “his generals” and “military experts” in his tweets, officials have indicated “the top brass were caught off guard by the policy change.”

The plan was tweeted, but as CNN reports, “Trump’s decision came without a plan in place to implement it.” This was the confusing part for all involved.

[Featured Image by Joseph Sohm/Shutterstock]