Trump’s tweets on military transgender ban send Pentagon aides scrambling

It appeared initially that no one in the building had any idea that the president was unilaterally ending an Obama-era policy, which had allowed transgender troops to serve openly since last year and called for a plan to recruit transgender individuals to serve.

Skittish public affairs officers were afraid to talk to reporters, who pressed for details. Did Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who is on vacation, know about the president’s decision before it was announced? Did this mean thousands of transgender troops who were told they could serve openly would now be kicked out?

Asked about rumors that the Pentagon was blindsided about the announcement, one public affairs official told the Washington Examiner, “I think the reports are pretty accurate that no one knew. I certainly had no idea.”

By midday, Pentagon officials were quietly saying nothing would change until they received official guidance from the White House.

Sources said only a handful of the most senior people were aware of the change, and that only the very highest levels of the Pentagon were consulted. Presumably this meant Trump had spoken to Mattis, but no one could immediately confirm that. Mattis’ chief spokeswoman Dana White is also on leave this week.

It fell to Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, the director of press operations, to release a statement, which in its careful wording appeared to confirm the Pentagon was in the dark.

“We refer all questions about the President’s statements to the White House,” Davis said. “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. We will provide revised guidance to the Department in the near future.”

Some members of the military openly wondered if Trump had confused a new policy being reviewed about accepting new transgender recruits, with the settled policy of allowing troops already in the military to serve openly. Service chiefs were supposed to come up with that new policy by July 1, but a day before the deadline, Mattis gave Pentagon leaders more time.

On Capitol Hill, the announcement also came as a bolt out of the blue.

Neither House nor Senate Armed Services Committees were briefed that the ban was coming, leaving members and staff surprised, according to aides.

Sen. John McCain, the Senate Armed Services chairman, indicated in a statement that he heard about Trump’s decision on Twitter and said it was not the proper way to make major policy announcements.

“The President’s tweet this morning regarding transgender Americans in the military is yet another example of why major policy announcements should not be made via Twitter,” McCain said. “The statement was unclear.”

Trump’s policy change was also news to Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., who was taking part in a live interview with the Washington Post when the interviewer read Trump’s tweet to him.

“I’ll give you the same answer that I give in the hallways everyday voting. I don’t really respond on a daily basis to tweets that are coming out,” Corker said.