London: US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he decided to ban transgender Americans from serving in the military because they take a ‘massive amounts of drugs’.
Trump told Britain’s ITV television in a wide-ranging interview that the military had strict rules regulating the use of prescription drugs.
“They take massive amounts of drugs, they have to, after the operation they have to, they have no choice and you are not allowed to take drugs, you are in the military, you are not allowed to take any drugs,” Trump said.
The ban went into force in April following a protracted legal battle that went all the way to the US Supreme Court. These policies could also impact currently serving personnel.
The Pentagon says the restrictions are not a blanket ban. But they do bar an overwhelming majority of people who identify as transgender from enlisting.
“We have a great military and I want to keep it that way,” Trump told ITV.
“And maybe they’d be phenomenal. I think they’d probably be, but again you have very strict rules and regulations on prescription drugs and all these different things and they blow out of the water.” Trump added.
Trump concluded three-day state visit to Britain Wednesday by attending a 75th anniversary commemoration of D-Day in the south England city of Portsmouth.
AFP
