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| Chelsea Manning responds to Trump's transgender military ban: 'Sounds like cowardice' | Chelsea Manning responds to Trump's transgender military ban: 'Sounds like cowardice' |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Chelsea Manning has responded to Donald Trump's ban on transgender people serving in the US military, accusing the President of "cowardice". | Chelsea Manning has responded to Donald Trump's ban on transgender people serving in the US military, accusing the President of "cowardice". |
| Mr Trump claimed "tremendous medical costs and disruption" were behind the move. | |
| Transgender service members have been able to serve openly in the military since last year, when Barack Obama's Defence Secretary ended the ban. | |
| It is not clear what impact the new measure will have. A Pentagon spokesman refused to answer questions about what the announcement means for the current policy. | |
| "Call the White House," Navy captain Jeff Davis said when asked. | |
| Responding to the surprise announcement, delivered by Mr Trump in a string of tweets on Wednesday, Ms Manning said: "So, biggest baddest most $$ military on earth cries about a few trans people but funds the F-35? Sounds like cowardice." | |
| The former soldier, who was released from prison in May after serving seven years for leaking secret military documents to WikiLeaks, said the armed forces "have always been a social experiment just as much as a fighting force". | |
| In a later tweet, she suggested that the move showed military funding should be diverted into an improved healthcare system. | |
| In 2015, announcing the ban on transgender military personnel was to be lifted, former Defence Secretary Ash Carter described the law as "outdated". | |
| “The Defence Department's current regulations regarding transgender service members are outdated and are causing uncertainty that distracts commanders from our core missions," he said. | |
| “At a time when our troops have learned from experience that the most important qualification for service members should be whether they're able and willing to do their job, our officers and enlisted personnel are faced with certain rules that tell them the opposite. | |
| “Moreover, we have transgender soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines – real, patriotic Americans – who I know are being hurt by an outdated, confusing, inconsistent approach that's contrary to our value of service and individual merit.” |