Even the Pentagon Thinks Trump's Anti-Trans Troop Explanation Is Nonsense

President Donald Trump recently defended his decision to ban trans people from serving in the U.S. military by explaining that the fact that they needed “drugs” made them ineligible for military service.

According to the Pentagon itself, that’s nonsense.

In a statement to The Washington Post on Thursday, Department of Defense spokeswoman Jessica Maxwell seemed to directly contradict Trump’s latest transphobic ramblings:

The Military Health System covers all approved medically necessary treatments and prescription medications. If a service member has a hormone deficiency for any reason (such as hypogonadism, hypothyroidism, menopause, etc.), he or she would be prescribed hormones.

Maxwell also confirmed that current service members already diagnosed with gender dysphoria “will continue to receive all medically necessary treatment.”

During an interview with Piers Morgan, Trump insisted that trans people “take massive amounts of drugs.

“They have to, and also—and you’re not allowed to take drugs, you’re in the military,” Trump continued. “You’re not allowed to take any drugs, you take an aspirin… and they have to, after the operation, they have to, they have no choice, they have to. You would actually have to break rules and regulations to have that.”

When Morgan noted that the Pentagon freely subsidizes Viagra for male service members, Trump responded simply “I didn’t know they did that,” and added that “it is what it is.”

I have reached out to the White House for comment on the Pentagon’s statement, and will update this post if they reply.