Trump signs several orders focused on reshaping US military

US President Donald Trump has signed several executive orders focused on reshaping the US military.

One order signed late on Monday bans diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the military. It will remove the use of race- or sex-based preferences in the armed forces, the Defense Department and the Homeland Security Department.

Another reinstates more than 8,000 service members who were discharged for refusing to get the Covid-19 vaccine.

The White House added that a third executive order tasks officials with formulating a policy on transgender troops. The action does not immediately ban transgender service members.

A fourth order mandates a process to develop an “American Iron Dome” – similar to the one used by Israel in the Middle East; while the White House says a proclamation has been signed to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

The executive orders were signed by Trump on board Air Force One.

Removing DEI programmes from within the federal government was one of Trump’s central campaign promises – and one he has moved swiftly to implement upon taking office last week.

DEI programmes aim to promote participation in workplaces by people from a range of backgrounds.

Their backers say they address historical underrepresentation and discrimination against certain groups, including racial minorities, but critics say such programmes can themselves be discriminatory.

The Trump administration claims that removing these initiatives from the US military will help boost recruitment levels.

Defence officials have previously said that the military services collectively missed recruitment goals by 41,000 personnel in the 2023 fiscal year.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has promised to eliminate similar initiatives from the military, telling reporters on Monday that “there are more executive orders coming”.

The order entitled “restoring America’s fighting force” includes a ban on what the administration considers discriminatory race or sex-based preferences by any branch of the military, Department of Defense or the Department of Homeland Security.

Additionally, any remaining DEI-related bureaucracy will be eliminated from those departments., the document said.

Within 90 days of the executive order being signed, the President says the Secretary of Defense will carry out “an internal review that documents actions taken in pursuit of DEI initiatives, including all instances of race and sex discrimination and activities designed to promote a race- or sex-based preferences system”.

It remains unclear what specific programmes will be affected by the order.

In a December 2020 report, the department’s Board on Diversity and Inclusion recommended a number of steps, including the removal of “aptitude test barriers that adversely impact diversity” and incorporating the “value of cultivating diversity and inclusion” into leadership and professionalism curricula.

Over the weekend, it was reported that the US Air Force was reviewing material on the role of black and female pilots during World War Two from its training programmes as part of an effort to comply with Trump’s DEI orders.

But on Sunday, military officials clarified that certain curricula will not be removed from basic military training.

During the campaign in June, Trump said the military’s purpose is “to win wars, not to be woke”.

Hegseth told reporters on Monday that the job of the military is “lethality and readiness and war fighting”.

“Military training will be focused on the readiness of what our troops in the field need to deter our enemies,” he added.

The move forms part of a larger, government-wide effort to remove DEI practices from the federal workforce.

Immediately after taking office, Trump ordered that all US government staff working on DEI schemes were to be put on immediate paid administrative leave.

The White House gave them until 17:00 EST (2200 GMT) the following day to be put on leave before the offices and programmes in question were shut down.

In an order, Trump said that the programmes were “dangerous, demeaning and immoral”.

On Monday, the Department of Veterans Affairs also said it had has placed almost 60 employees on leave as it works to implement Trump’s order last week to eliminate DEI from federal workplaces.

In a statement, the department said that the salary of the employees – who were solely focused on DEI initiatives – were collectively paid about $8m, an average of about $136,000 (£109,000) per year. One employee was making over $220,000 a year.

Trump also signed an executive order directing the military to formulate policies regarding the inclusion of transgender troops and update any guidance on the topic.

According to documents published by the White House, the president’s executive order on “prioritising military excellence and readiness” says “expressing a false ‘gender identity’ divergent from an individual’s sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service”.

A White House fact sheet uses the term “trans-identifying” rather than transgender.

It is unclear how many transgender personnel are serving in the US military – although previous estimates from researchers have put the figure at between 9,000 and 15,000.

As part of the order, the use of pronouns will be forbidden across the defence department, and the order also says males will be explicitly forbidden from using facilities designated for females.

In 2021, then-President Joe Biden signed an order allowing transgender people to serve in the military and preventing discharges based on gender.

During most of Trump’s first term at the White House, transgender personnel were banned from joining or serving unless they received a waiver.

The Trump administration has claimed members who undergo transition surgery are often incapable of the physical demands of their jobs – potentially harming military readiness. The White House did not provide evidence of this claim and the BBC has reached out to the Pentagon for comment.

Sparta, an organisation which advocates on behalf of transgender military personnel, criticised the order, saying that transgender troops have served in combat zones and have “demonstrated their ability” to operate in military units.

“While some transgender troops do have surgery, the recovery time and cost is minimal, and is scheduled so as not to impact deployments or mission readiness,” said Sue Fulton, an army veteran and senior advisor to Sparta.

“The readiness and physical capabilities of transgender service members is not different from that of other service members,” Fulton added.

In 2017, the Palm Center – an independent research organisation – estimated that removing about 10,000 transgender troops from the military could cost approximately $960m.

The third order reinstates US military personnel who were discharged for refusal to accept Covid-19 vaccinations during the pandemic.

Those service members will be reinstated with full back pay and benefits, and receive their former rank.

In his inauguration speech, Trump said that these service members were “unjustly expelled”.

About 8,000 US military personnel were discharged from service for refusing the vaccines between 2021 and 2023 – of which only 43 were reinstated before Trump’s return to the White House.

A former high-ranking Pentagon official – who spoke on condition of anonymity – told the BBC that their refusal to take vaccines was tantamount to damaging “good order” and discipline.

The official called the reinstatement of the troops “concerning” and said he feared it could create a precedent to be able to opt out of other vaccines, such as those given to service members for yellow fever or smallpox.