President Donald Trump was expected to sign a flurry of executive orders focused on the military Monday, including to reinstate troops booted for refusing COVID vaccines, assess transgender forces and further outline rollbacks in diversity programs , just as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth began his first day on the job.
The orders could further clarify initial directives Trump issued shortly after his inauguration last week, when he removed protections for transgender troops put in place by former President Joe Biden and banned DEI initiatives at federal agencies. Trump had tried to impose a ban on transgender troops during his first term, but it was tangled up in the courts for years before being overturned by Biden shortly after he took office.
The new order on transgender troops does not impose an immediate ban, but directs the Pentagon to come up with a policy on their service in the armed forces based on military readiness, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.
Trump promised during the campaign to build an Iron Dome, the advanced air defense system used by Israel. It was not immediately clear what the additional order on DEI β diversity, equity and inclusion β would be, but Trump's initial action ending those programs across the U.
Without clearer direction, agencies have been taking a broad approach at removing any content that seemed to run afoul of Trump's ban. Videos on both the Tuskegee Airmen and WASPs were removed as the courses were taken down last week, causing an uproar.
