US President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders on Monday to remove diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs from the military, reinstate thousands of troops who were kicked out for refusing COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic, and take aim at transgender troops.
Trump signed the executive orders while flying back from Miami to Washington DC.
Ban of 'invented' pronouns in the military
One of the executive orders signed by Trump said that expressing a "gender identity" different from an individual's sex at birth did not meet military standards.
While the order banned the use of "invented" pronouns in the military, it did not answer basic questions including whether transgender soldiers currently serving in the military would be allowed to stay and, if not, how they would be removed.
On Sunday, the US stopped issuing passports with a gender-neutral "X" option, the state department said, following Trump's order limiting government recognition of transgender identity.
Trump's plans have been heavily criticised by advocacy groups, who say his actions would be illegal.
"President Trump has made clear that a key priority for his administration is driving transgender people back into the closet and out of public life altogether," Joshua Block, a senior attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, said earlier on Monday.
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You're fired: Donald Trump targets diversity programs and people in conservative sweep of Washington
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23/01/202507:08
Worries for transgender troops
During his first term, Trump said he would ban transgender troops from serving in the military. He did not fully follow through with that ban — his administration froze their recruitment while allowing serving personnel to remain.
Former president Joe Biden overturned the decision when he took office in 2021.
The military has about 1.3 million active-duty personnel, US defence department data shows. While transgender rights advocates say there are as many as 15,000 transgender service members, officials say the number is in the low thousands.
When Trump announced his first ban in 2017, he said the military needed to focus on "decisive and overwhelming victory" without being burdened by the "tremendous medical costs and disruption" of having transgender personnel.
Eliminating DEI programs a top priority
New US defence secretary Pete Hegseth has promised to bring major changes to the Pentagon and he has made eliminating DEI programs from the military a top priority.
Trump's executive order on ending DEI in the military said service academies would be required to teach "that America and its founding documents remain the most powerful force for good in human history".
The Air Force said on Sunday that it will resume instruction of trainees using a video about the first Black airmen in the US military, known as the Tuskegee Airmen, which has passed review to ensure compliance with Trump's ban on DEI initiatives.
For Trump's allies, his crackdown on the "illegal and immoral discrimination" of equal opportunities programs reflects a shifting US electorate that has lost patience with ineffective and performative political correctness.
For Trump critics, however, it is a frontal assault on civil rights that will chill efforts to create a fairer country, dismantling decades of affirmative action that they argue led to a more skilled, representative workforce.
Trump repeatedly previewed his plan to stamp out DEI during his election campaign, but the breakneck pace of the changes — and the extent of their reach — has caught many off guard.
Since his return to office last week, administration officials have been racing to prosecute Trump's war on DEI across the federal bureaucracy — dismantling training initiatives, scrapping grants and sidelining hundreds of workers.
"Woke is not inevitable. It is not invincible. It is not indestructible. The counter-revolution is coming," anti-DEI crusader Christopher Rufo wrote on X in a post marking Trump's first week in office.
Criticisms of DEI measures largely stem from the view that people employed through such programs do not merit their success, and are depriving more deserving candidates who are denied opportunity because they are not in a minority.
Trump looking to develop an 'American Iron Dome'
Trump also signed an executive order that "mandated a process to develop an 'American Iron Dome'."
was built by Israel's Rafael Advanced Defense Systems with US backing, and was built to intercept rockets fired by Hamas in Gaza towards Israel.
Each truck-towed unit fires radar-guided missiles to blow up short-range threats such as rockets, mortars and drones in midair.
The system determines whether a rocket is on course to hit a populated area. If not, the rocket is ignored and allowed to land harmlessly.
Any such effort would take years to implement in the US.
