Mattis was on vacation when Trump tweeted transgender ban, and he was reportedly ‘appalled’ by it

When President Donald Trump tweeted his reversal of the Obama-era decision to allow transgender people to openly serve in the military on Wednesday, his secretary of defense, Jim Mattis, was on vacation and appalled by the move, according to the New York Times.

Mattis apparently only had one day’s notice about the decision, which he had labored over for months while evaluating how to implement the Obama policy.

Sources close to Mattis told the Times that he was “appalled” by Trump’s rollout of the policy, which shocked many in the Pentagon and left active-duty transgender service people unsure of their fate.

Trump’s decision to “not accept or allow” transgender service people comes after Obama essentially invited them to come forward and openly express their gender identity. It also follows a 2016 study commissioned by the Pentagon that found that transgender inclusion would have “have minimal impact on readiness and health care costs” for the 1.4 million strong US military.

Read the whole story from Business Insider.

Featured image courtesy of DoD