The best reactions to Donald Trump's outrageous transgender military ban

Donald Trump has (once again) been criticised, this time for tweets announcing that transgender people will be banned from the U.S. military.

“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,” he wrote. “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. Thank you.”

Slate has described the ban as “stunningly cruel and unjustified”, with CNN calling it “an affront to the military”. Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern also explained that, despite Trump’s claim that the army would be “burdened with tremendous medical costs”, the “cost of transgender service is known to be quite low, and the integration of transgender troops in foreign militaries has had no effect on unit cohesion, morale, or force readiness.”

The comments, which many have described as transphobic, have also been widely criticised by LGBTQ activists, politicians and veterans, as well as just regular people angry at the move. 

And other nations have also condemned Trump for his comments. 

Trump’s daughter, Ivanaka, has also come under fire. 

Back in June, Ivanka tweeted that she was “proud to support my LGBTQ friends and the LGBTQ Americans who have made immense contributions to our society and economy” – but has remained silent on her father’s statement.

And American civil liberties group ACLU have pledged to support transgender troops.