U.S. President Donald Trump vowed on Twitter Wednesday that under his administration, transgender individuals won't be allowed to serve in the U.S. military in any capacity, statements that appeared to take politicians in Congress as well as the Pentagon by surprise.
"After consultation with my generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. military," Trump wrote in a series of Twitter posts.
"Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail," the Republican president added.
The Pentagon referred all questions back to the White House and said they would provide revised guidance to members of the armed forces in the near future.
"We will continue to work closely with the White House to address the new guidance provided by the commander-in-chief on transgender individuals serving the military," said Pentagon spokesperson Capt. Jeff Davis.
Trump did not elaborate on his tweets in public remarks at an American Legion event at the White House. Trump replied "very rude," when a reporter shouted a question for comment on the tweets.
The Pentagon ended its ban on openly transgender people serving in the U.S. military in 2016 under Democratic President Barack Obama's administration. It was expected to start allowing transgender people to begin enlisting this year, provided they had been "stable" in their preferred gender for 18 months.
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