Trump Could Save Entire Annual Cost For Transgender To Serve In Military By Skipping One Trip To Mar-A-Lago


Donald Trump announced that transgender people would no longer be allowed to serve in the U.S. military, saying that medical costs were too expensive. But analysis shows that Trump could be able to save the entire annual medical costs associated with gender transitions if he were to skip just one trip to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

Trump announced the policy, which is a shift away from the Obama administration’s policy allowing these members to continue serving. In his statement, Trump cited the medical costs associated with treating transgender people.

“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,” Trump tweeted. “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.”

However, according to a study conducted by the Rand Corporation, the “tremendous” annual medical costs associated with transgender people serving in the military is actually between $2.4 million and $8.4 million each year — just 0.13 percent of health care expenditures for all service members. The report noted that there are between 1,320 and 6,630 transgender service members, but not all will seek treatment for gender transitions.

Those annual medical costs could be saved if Donald Trump skipped just one of his frequent trips to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, analysis shows. Trump drew widespread criticism for his frequent travel during his presidency, especially after Trump frequently attacking then-President Obama for his travel and vacations and made promises that he would not be taking any vacations as president.

The Associated Press noted that watchdog groups have estimated that Trump’s trips to stay and golf at Mar-a-Lago during the weekends cost as much as $3 million each — which would save the entirety of transgender military medical costs at the low end. At the higher end, Trump would have to forgo just three trips to his luxury resort to save the amount needed to let transgender people serve in the military.

Other estimates placed the cost of Trump’s often weekly travel to Mar-a-Lago at a little more than $1 million per trip, which would mean Trump has to cut out about seven of those trips to pay the highest estimate.

Whatever the case, Donald Trump’s decision to ban transgender people from serving in the military has drawn criticism from both sides of the aisle, including a rebuke from Sen. John McCain and many former members of the military.

[Featured Image by Joe Raedle/Getty Images]

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