In the weeks surrounding Trump’s inauguration, the left-wing media insisted the administration’s effort to remove trans troops from the military would weaken the force — some outlets fearmongered that up to 15,000 service members would be booted. But numbers recently obtained by journalist Chris Bray from the Department of Defense indicate that only four “transgender servicemembers” have been “removed from the military so far under the new Trump administration policy.”
In May, the Department of Defense released a memo laying out how “Service members who have a current diagnosis or history of, or exhibit symptoms consistent with, gender dysphoria may elect to separate voluntarily.” At the time, the agency estimated 1,000 troops who self-identified as having gender dysphoria would “begin the voluntary separation process.” According to Bray’s reporting, citing a DoD official, of 1,404 troops who self-identified as of May, only four have completed the process of separation. The rest are “pending.”
Nonetheless, as Bray also notes, the media will surely continue pushing the claim that Trump’s efforts to “prioritize military excellence” will boot “thousands” from the force.
“Abruptly discharging 15,000-plus service members, especially given that the military’s recruiting targets fell short by 41,000 recruits last year, adds administrative burdens to war fighting units, harms unit cohesion, and aggravates critical skill gaps,” Rachel Branaman, executive director of LGBT activist group Modern Military Association of America, told The Times after Trump was elected. “There would be a significant financial cost, as well as a loss of experience and leadership that will take possibly 20 years and billions of dollars to replace.”
Bray has pointed out that the 15,000 estimate is from a study by the “now-defunct” Palm Center, which used a questionable process to find their final number. As a Defense Department official recently told The Federalist’s Shawn Fleetwood, about 4,200 “active-duty, Guard and Reserve service members [were] serving diagnosed with gender dysphoria” as of February. Even if more trans troops leave or are removed from the military over the next few years, both the 4,200 and 1,400 numbers are still a far cry from 15,000.
Multiple outlets, including Newsweek, The Independent, The New York Times, CBS News, and NPR, regurgitated the 15,000 number in recent months. Although some outlets acknowledged the 4,000 estimate from the DoD earlier this year, they still clearly chided the Trump administration’s efforts.
Trump’s January executive order essentially disqualified transgender troops as “mentally and physically” unfit for duty. A district court judge attempted to block the enforcement of the order for violating constitutional rights. After an emergency appeal from the Trump administration, the Supreme Court stayed the injunction, allowing the policy to be enforced while litigation continues.
Despite media fearmongering about the Trump administration’s efforts, the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Space Force all met their recruitment goals months early this year.
Jacqueline Annis-Levings is a correspondent for the Federalist. She is a rising junior at Patrick Henry College, where she is majoring in English.