Trump signs orders to build US 'Iron Dome,' bar transgenders from military
Other orders signed on Monday ended DEI programs in the army in favor of 'meritocracy,' and also reinstated personnel booted for refusing Covid-19 vaccination
US President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders on Monday, including developing an "Iron Dome for America."
"The threat of attack by ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missiles, and other advanced aerial attacks, remains the most catastrophic threat facing the United States," the order said.
Trump noted that former president Ronald Reagan had begun developing the Strategic Defense Initiative, known also as the "Star Wars" program, but the technology of the time made the idea untenable.
"He's what we need, to immediately begin the construction of a state-of-the-art Iron Dome missile defense shield, which will be able to protect Americans," Trump said.
Other executive orders included barring transgender individuals from the armed services, titled "Prioritizing Military Excellence And Readiness."
The order alleges that radical gender ideology has infiltrated the military to "appease activists unconcerned with the requirements of military service."
"Expressing a false 'gender identity' divergent from an individual’s sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service... A man’s assertion that he is a woman, and his requirement that others honor this falsehood, is not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member."
Another order ended Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs in the armed forces, in favor of "meritocracy and to the elimination of race-based and sex-based discrimination."
Trump also ordered soldiers and officers who were booted from the army for refusing Covid-19 vaccination requirements be reinstated.