Former President Donald Trump announced several reforms he plans to implement for the military and the Department of Veterans Affairs if he is elected president in 2024, including banning transgender people from the armed forces.
"I will ban the Department of Veterans Affairs from wasting a single cent to fund transgender surgeries or sex change procedures," Trump said to loud applause from a crowd in Windham, New Hampshire, on Tuesday. "Those precious taxpayer dollars should be going to care for our veterans in need, not to refund radical gender experiments for the communist Left."
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"I'll also restore the Trump ban on transgender in the military," he continued as the crowd cheered. In 2017, Trump, as president, announced a ban on transgender people serving in the military. In his first month in office, President Joe Biden overturned the measure.
Trump also claimed he would not allow the military to go "woke," pledged to reinstate any service member fired for not getting a COVID-19 vaccine, and slammed Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) for running against him in 2024 after Trump endorsed him in his first gubernatorial campaign.
Hours before the rally started, the Trump campaign announced a New Hampshire "Veterans for Trump" coalition that includes 120 veterans who are backing the former president in his third bid for the White House.
“When President Donald Trump was commander in chief, our nation's veterans had a leader fighting to ensure that their service and sacrifices to our country were honored,” said Marine Corps veteran John Coughlin, co-chairman of the coalition, in a statement. “President Trump has always been a champion for the men and women who served our nation by ensuring they received great care, benefits, and jobs. He held corrupt government bureaucrats accountable for their lack of care and made sure the VA was treating veterans with honor and dignity.”
The former president also claimed he would end veteran homelessness, combat veteran suicide rates, and increase accountability for the VA during his rally.
Trump slammed Biden for not firing "corrupt" VA bureaucrats and providing $200 million in back pay to VA employees. "I will ask Congress to take every penny of those funds to finally build a brand new state-of-the-art VA hospital right here in the great state of New Hampshire," Trump said.
The rally is the first Trump has held in New Hampshire, the first-in-the-nation primary, since he was indicted for a third time by a federal grand jury over alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election last week. In the time since the 45-page indictment was revealed, Trump has repeatedly attacked special counsel Jack Smith as "deranged" and called the multiple indictments a sign of "election interference," which he referenced again on Tuesday.
Trump was charged with four federal counts, which he pleaded not guilty to when he was arraigned in a Washington, D.C., federal court. He referenced the charges repeatedly during his rally and lobbed attacks at Biden, who he called "crooked," during his speech. "But now they indicted your president, your former president who is very popular," Trump said to booing from the audience. "So now they ripped off the top. They took the gloves off and we can say whatever we want ... And I'll tell you what, what he's done is a scandal the likes of which this country has never seen and the fake news hates to talk about."
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Trump is leading all other GOP 2024 rivals in the Granite State, according to new polling released this week. An NHJournal/Co/efficient poll showed that 43% of New Hampshire Republican primary voters would back Trump if the election were today, 62% would support him if he were convicted of a felony, and 57% would vote for him if he were in prison, a sign that Trump's dominance won't be thwarted by the legal issues he faces.
“As a pollster, I wonder if there is any other political figure in America who could generate this level of loyalty,” said Co/efficient CEO Ryan Munce. “It will be difficult for any Republican to peel away these voters.”