News
‘Backward, Bigoted and Bad’: SCOTUS Slammed Over Trump’s Trans Troop Ban Ruling
The conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court, ignoring the actions of three lower courts, granted the Trump administration’s motion to allow it to proceed with the Commander-in-Chief’s decision to ban and purge all service members from the U.S. Armed Forces who are transgender.
The nation’s highest court, with dissents from the three liberal justices, ruled that President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth may begin to discharge transgender individuals regardless of performance, while cases work their way through the courts. Two federal district courts had ruled that a ban, in whole or part, on service members simply because they are transgender likely violates their 14th Amendment rights.
The two district courts placed injunctions on the Trump administration’s plan to ban transgender individuals, and an appeals court upheld one of those injunctions.
“Lower courts had blocked the policy, saying it was not supported by evidence and violated equal protection principles,” The New York Times reported. Tuesday’s ruling “will remain in place while challenges to the ban move forward.”
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But the court made clear, in what effectively was an unsigned 6-3 ruling, that the Trump administration, at least temporarily, may begin the discharge process.
The New York Times in February reported that the Pentagon believes the number of transgender service members is far lower than previously estimated, about 4200 in total. Previous estimates had come in at about 15,000.
The Trump administration has argued that transgender troops are disruptive to unit cohesion and lethality, and President Trump “has characterized the cost of providing care as ‘tremendous.’” The actual cost, however, is around $9000 per trans service member, and totaled around $52 million over the past ten years.
The administration also “asserted that being transgender ‘conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful and disciplined lifestyle.'”
Critics are blasting the Supreme Court, with several stating the trans military ban will make America less safe.
“Banning transgender people who want to serve our country from joining the military isn’t just cruel—it’s stupid,” declared U.S. Senator Ed Markey (D-MA). “Shame on Trump. And shame on SCOTUS for letting such a hateful policy take effect.”
“It’s discrimination,” wrote MSNBC legal analyst Jill Wine-Banks.
“Backward, bigoted and bad for our national security,” wrote veteran and veterans’ activist Paul Rieckhoff, president of Righteous Media. “Trump’s radical and destructive culture war on our military continues. And is unsurprisingly supported by this Supreme Court. Trump’s trans purge will remove valuable servicemembers, disrupt units and make America less safe.”
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“Absolutely shameful,” declared U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), a retired Army National Guard lieutenant colonel, and Iraq War combat veteran. “Trump’s trans military service ban hurts our military readiness, makes our military’s recruitment challenges even worse and disrespects Americans who are brave enough to serve in uniform. This will make our military less lethal and Americans less safe.”
Attorney Aaron Reichlin-Melnick wrote: “I’m so sorry for all the decorated members of the military who are going to be kicked out and treated like garbage by this administration just because of their gender identity. We’re losing talented, dedicated soldiers and staff because of this.”
“Thousands of openly-trans members of the military were just given a huge middle finger by the conservative majority of the Supreme Court, who are allowing a cruel and unnecessary ban to go into effect, despite the overwhelming evidence that the ban itself is ridiculous,” wrote author Charlotte Clymer, a former spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign.
“Less than 1% of Americans serve in the military, showing remarkable honor & bravery,” observed DePaul University Associate Professor of Political Science. “Less than 1% of those are openly trans, & show the same honor & even more bravery. Open discrimination by the president & the Supreme Court must be called out. Shameful.”
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Image via Reuters
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Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney drew a standing ovation at the World Economic Forum in Davos after warning that the global order has ruptured.
“Let me be direct: We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition,” Carney said, as The New York Times reported.
“I will talk today about the breaking of the world order, the end of a pleasant fiction and the beginning of a brutal reality where the geopolitics of the great powers is not subject to any constraint,” he explained.
“Every day we are reminded that we live in an era of great power rivalry,” he said. “That the rules-based order is fading. That the strong do what they can, and the weak suffer what they must.”
Carney did not say President Donald Trump’s name, but he did tell his audience, “recently, great powers began using economic integration as weapons. Tariffs as leverage. Financial infrastructure as coercion. Supply chains as vulnerabilities to be exploited.”
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“You cannot live within the lie of mutual benefit through integration, when integration becomes the source of your subordination.”
He also said that “there is a strong tendency for countries to go along to get along. To accommodate. To avoid trouble. To hope that compliance will buy safety.”
“It won’t,” he warned.
Carney said that “intermediate powers like Canada, are not powerless. They have the capacity to build a new order that encompasses our values, such as respect for human rights, sustainable development, solidarity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the various states.”
And he warned that those powers “must act together, because if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu.”
The Times noted that Carney’s speech came “not long after” President Donald Trump “posted an A.I. image on social media that included a map of American flags superimposed over both Canada and the United States,” along with the U.S. flag on Greenland, Venezuela, and Cuba.
Very important and very well put remarks by 🇨🇦 PM Mark Carney. It’s time to take down the sign and speak up. pic.twitter.com/Ky00CNMYVM
— Carl Bildt (@carlbildt) January 20, 2026
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Image via Reuters
In a stark warning on the first anniversary of President Donald Trump’s second term in office, The Bulwark’s editor, Jonathan V. Last, suggests that under Trump, America may adopt Putinism as its domestic policy, having already adopted it for its foreign policy.
“Will Putinism take over American domestic politics, too?” Last asks, in an opinion piece titled, “This Is the End.”
“America has adopted Putinism as its modus operandi for foreign affairs,” he says. “Why would America not also adopt Putinism in its domestic affairs? Why would the American regime tolerate free and fair elections or the transfer of power to an opposition party?”
Pursuing the question, Last continued: “Are there examples of expansionist, rogue regimes which ignored international law and attempted to subjugate free people abroad, but respected liberal democratic outcomes that terminated their possession of power at home?”
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To those who suggest Trumpism is temporary, Last suggests he disagrees.
“Many people comfort themselves by saying some version of ‘Donald Trump is an aberration’ or ‘This isn’t who we are,'” he writes.
But, he continues, “If Trump was an aberration and his actions did not have sufficient public support, then he would be removed from office. There are two mechanisms for doing so—impeachment and the 25th Amendment.”
“Trump will not be removed from office; which allows one of two conclusions. Either: Trump’s policies are supported by a sufficient percentage of Americans to be viable; or America’s constitutional order is so ossified that it no longer functions to safeguard the will of the people.”
“Neither of these is an alibi,” Last warns, noting that, “either one supports the conclusion that the problem is not Trump. It is America and Americans. This is who we are. Like it or not.”
Last also makes several other predictions:
“The days of intelligence sharing between America and our former allies are drawing to a close.”
“The death of NATO.”
“Germany, Poland, and Canada will acquire nuclear weapons. So will Japan. Sweden, Australia, and South Korea may develop nuclear capabilities as well.”
“Europe will draw closer to China.”
“Greenland will become disputed territory.”
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Image via Reuters
Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent was met with mockery after explaining he wants to protect “mom and pop” owners who have up to a dozen homes they’ve bought as retirement investments.
Bessent and President Donald Trump have declared they want to ban large institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes as housing becomes more scarce and less affordable.
“We are going to give guidance at some point to see what is a mom and pop, that someone — maybe your parents — for their retirement, [bought] about 5, 10, 12 homes,” Bessent told Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
“So we don’t want to push the mom and pops out,” he continued. “We just want to push everyone else out.”
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Bessent, a former hedge fund manager, has an estimated net worth of $521 million, according to The Street.
Critics were quick to ridicule Bessent as out of touch.
“Good news for the forgotten man,” declared The Bulwark’s Tim Miller. “The mom and pop real estate investor who has purchased 12 homes can breathe easy, the Treasury Secretary is looking out for you.”
“These people are completely out of touch with how life is for you,” observed The Lincoln Project.
Governor Gavin Newsom’s Press Office commented, “Scott, people are trying to buy 1 house — to live in. Could the Trump Admin be any more out of touch?”
Bessent: “Someone, maybe your parents for their retirement have bought 5, 10, 12 homes.” pic.twitter.com/eUZXTmnhpH
— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) January 20, 2026
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‘Code Red’: Newsom Tells Europe They’ve Been Played by ‘T-Rex’ Trump
Treasury Chief Draws Ridicule for Wanting to Protect Americans With ‘5, 10, 12 Homes’
‘Enemy Is Within’: Trump Boosts Post Casting NATO as a ‘Threat’ in Social Media Spree
Canadian Prime Minister Warns World Order Has Ruptured
US Could Slide Into Putin-Style Rule After Trump Foreign Policy Shift: Journalist
Canadian Prime Minister Warns World Order Has Ruptured
US Could Slide Into Putin-Style Rule After Trump Foreign Policy Shift: Journalist
Treasury Chief Draws Ridicule for Wanting to Protect Americans With ‘5, 10, 12 Homes’
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