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Sarah Huckabee Sanders Uses Debunked DADT Claims of ‘Military Readiness and Cohesion’ to Justify Trump Trans Military Ban

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Up for Debate: Press Secretary Says Trump ‘Has a Lot of Support for All Americans and Certainly Wants to Protect All Americans at All Times’ 

In an attempt to justify President Donald Trump’s decision to ban all current and future transgender service members in the military White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders offered up a different story than Trump had earlier. 

Huckabee Sanders told reporters at a press briefing Wednesday afternoon that President Trump decided to ban trans service members to support “military readiness and cohesion.”

But President Trump did not say a word about “military readiness and cohesion” when he effectively fired all transgender service members.

Here’s what he did say:

“After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you.”

Trump’s was supposedly “tremendous medical costs,” and “disruption,” and he suggested that he is unaware there are actively serving transgender members. Whatever “disruption” there is the military is more than prepared to handle. 

So, to be clear, once again the White House is taking Trump’s words and twisting them into something that might sound better, but is not a true reflection of what he actually said or meant.

Sign our petition: Tell President Trump You Support Our Transgender Service Members and Oppose His New Ban

But “military readiness and cohesion” are the exact words anti-gay hate groups used when pushing fabricated studies and talking points in opposition to the move to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” DADT repeal passed in 2010, and was effective the following year. Studies show allowing gay men, lesbians, and bisexual people to serve openly caused literally a handful – single digits – of members of the armed forces to resign.

“The decision is based on a military decision,” Huckabee Sanders told reporters. “It is not meant to be anything more than that.”

She also told reporters there is not set time frame for “implementation” to take place, and the Dept. of Defense and the White House will be working together to determine next steps, but DoD will take the lead on the issue.

And she claimed that President Trump “has a lot of support for all Americans and certainly wants to protect all Americans at all times,” which is false, given this decision to ban 10,000 to 15,000 active duty military members.

Huckabee Sanders made the claim in response to a question about Trump having promised to protect LGBT people during the campaign.

She called having trans members serve “very expensive,” which is absolutely a lie. The Pentagon spends five to ten times more on erectile disfunction and Viagra than it would on transgender-related health care. 

Huckabee Sanders claimed President Trump made this decision on Tuesday and “immediately” informed the Secretary of Defense. That’s doubtful, since the DoD clearly was unprepared to take questions on the issue from reporters.  

CBS News’ Major Garrett blasted Huckabee Sanders for not being able to answer the “basic question” of what will happen to trans soldiers since it is a policy of great “magnitude.” She said Trump didn’t feel the need to hold the decision after it was made, say, to help the process go smoothly or soften the blow to thousands.

Either Huckabee Sanders is lying about Trump making the decision Tuesday or she is lying about Trump having “a lot of support for all Americans,” since no one would ever announce they are firing 15,000 soldiers without warning, in a tweet.

RELATED STORIES:

Chairman of Senate Armed Services Committee on Trump’s Total Transgender Ban: Not So Fast

UPDATING: Pentagon Policy on Trump Total Ban of All Transgender Service Members: ‘Call the White House’

Trump Administration Official Admits Decision Banning All Transgender Service Members Is Purely Political

BREAKING: Trump Announces Total Ban on Transgender Service Members

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‘He Was the Only One’: Trump Mocked for Declaring Iran’s Moves ‘Shocked’ Him

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March 16, 2026

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President Donald Trump is facing criticism and mockery after admitting he was “shocked” that Iran fought back against Operation Epic Fury.

“Trump just admitted publicly that his administration underestimated the Iranian response to his attack,” The Washington Post’s Josh Rogin reported.

During a meeting of the board governing the Kennedy Center, Trump said, “look what happened. In the last two weeks, they weren’t supposed to go after all these other countries in the Middle East. Those missiles were set to go after them. So they hit Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait. Nobody expected that. We were shocked.”

Focusing on Trump’s “shocked” remark, some critics blasted the president, once again, for what many have previously said is a Commander-in-Chief who was unprepared to go to war against Iran.

The New Yorker’s Susan Glasser called Trump’s comments a “Remarkable admission.”

READ MORE: ‘Lazy and Unstrategic’: GOP Senator Slams ‘Republican on Republican Violence’

Former Republican U.S. Rep. Justin Amash declared, “We are governed by complete morons.”

Podcaster Clint Russell noted, “Just FYI, this is the EXACT reason our generals have consistently advised against a war with Iran. Even Charlie Kirk had laid this all out on his show a couple years ago. Iran was no threat to America but they were fully capable of destroying the global economy by striking oil facilities and transit throughout the region.”

Robert Manning, a Distinguished Fellow in Global Foresight at the nonpartisan Stimson Center, wrote: “If so, he was the only one surprised. Strategic planners have war games this for 40 years. Hard to believe JCS [Joint Chiefs of Staff] didn’t advise Trump this was likely.”

“I’m pretty confident every war plan US has ever done in last 30 years gaming out this conflict was based on expectation that Iran could in fact [and] would in fact do this,” noted The Nation’s Jeet Heer.

“Every institution built to prevent exactly this outcome existed, was bypassed, and we are now watching the president express shock at conclusions that were already written in the classified assessments he didn’t read,” observed Christine Villaverde, the chairwoman of Anchoring Democracy.

READ MORE: Kristi Noem at Center of Push for DOJ Perjury Probe: Report

 

Image via Reuters 

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‘Lazy and Unstrategic’: GOP Senator Slams ‘Republican on Republican Violence’

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15 hours ago

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March 16, 2026

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A prominent Republican senator is denouncing his own party while lamenting the lack of an official presidential endorsement in the highly contentious Texas Republican Senate runoff election.

Agreeing that it is a mistake for President Donald Trump to withhold his endorsement of either Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton or U.S. Senator John Cornyn, U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) warned, “I think the more time we spend millions of dollars with Republican-on-Republican violence, Democrats are in the marketing department, loving the idea of a competitive runoff.”

“I get tired of Republicans being lazy and unstrategic,” he told CNN’s Manu Raju, appearing to suggest there are other ways for one of the candidates to pull ahead.

“People on my side of the aisle, and people at the far right of the political spectrum, are trying to swing for the fences, and they’re not gonna succeed,” he warned.

READ MORE: Kristi Noem at Center of Push for DOJ Perjury Probe: Report

A runoff election between Cornyn and Paxton will take place on May 26, and the president has yet to endorse either contender.

Reports suggest a Cornyn endorsement is more likely, although Paxton has been a reliable MAGA supporter. Trump has even suggested that whichever candidate does not get his backing should quit the race entirely, clearing the way for the presumptive nominee to battle the Democratic nominee, James Talarico.

“The Republican Primary Race for the United States Senate in the Great State of Texas,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, on March 4, “cannot, for the good of the Party, and our Country, itself, be allowed to go on any longer. IT MUST STOP NOW! We have an easy to beat, Radical Left Opponent, and we have to TOTALLY FOCUS on putting him away, quickly and decisively!”

He vowed to make his endorsement “soon,” but has yet to do so.

Each passing day gives Talarico more time to campaign and build his war chest as the two GOP contenders spend their time and money battling each other.

READ MORE: Gas Prices Near $4 in These Five States

 

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Gas Prices Near $4 in These Five States

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18 hours ago

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March 16, 2026

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Gas prices are continuing to substantially increase, with five states now hovering near $4 a gallon and several others seeing sharp increases as President Donald Trump’s war in Iran enters its 17th day.

“Big gas price hikes just now starting to happen in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Illinois, Missouri today, which will likely push the national average to $3.75-$3.80 by mid-week,” reports Patrick De Haan, the head of Petroleum Analysis at GasBuddy.

But, he also notes that Michigan and the Chicago area are already seeing $3.99 per gallon as of Monday. Indiana drivers are seeing $3.89, and Ohio and Kentucky are seeing $3.79 per gallon.

De Haan directly attributes the increases to the summer gasoline changeover and the ongoing Iran situation.

“The national average is up 80.0 cents from a month ago and is 66.1 cents per gallon higher than a year ago,” WANE reports, citing GasBuddy’s data.

Drivers should not expect to see prices come down significantly anytime soon.

“Until we see a meaningful resumption of oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, upward pressure on fuel prices is likely to persist,” De Haan said. “At the same time, seasonal forces are beginning to intensify as several regions complete the transition to summer gasoline, creating a double headwind that could continue driving pump prices higher in the weeks ahead.”

READ MORE: Kristi Noem at Center of Push for DOJ Perjury Probe: Report

 

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