Here’s How Much Trump’s Extreme Transgender Ban Would Damage Military

Donald Trump’s plan to ban transgender people from the military would have a devastating effect: At least 15,000 members would be forced to leave.

Military charities, such as the Modern Military Association of America, warn the ban would hurt every branch of the armed forces at a time when they are struggling to recruit. Sources told The Telegraph that “people will be forced out at a time when the military can’t recruit enough people.”

“Only the Marine Corps is hitting its numbers for recruitment, and some people who will be affected are in very senior positions,” the source said.

Trump banned transgender people from the military during his first term, but the ban was lifted by President Biden after his inauguration. Around 2,200 service members were diagnosed with gender dysmorphia at that time, but today there isn’t an exact number of transgender people in the military because of privacy policies.

The president-elect’s nominee for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, has attacked the military as suffering from a “long-term infection of radical left wing social justice policies.” In his 2024 book, The War on Warriors, he wrote that “affirmative action posts have skyrocketed, with ‘firsts’ being the most important factor in filling new commanders. We will not stop until trans-lesbian Black females run everything!”

That sentiment is in line with Trump’s own thinking, as he has complained about “woke generals” and is reportedly planning to sign an executive order to create a “warrior board” that would allow him to easily purge the military of leaders he doesn’t like.

Trump also plans to use the military to go after the “enemy within,” which encompasses his political enemies and anyone who stands in his way, and to carry out mass deportations. Both plans already have opposition from military leaders themselves, meaning that Trump will want to replace those leaders with more pliant sycophants. If he and Hegseth get their way, the next president will have dictator-level control of the military.