text: Breathtaking how you can switch from saying that Trump had no evidence on which he based his decision, to ignoring a point raised by the evidence I provided, to actually citing that same evidence without missing a beat. That's impressive arguing!
  
  The point I've raised throughout this thread is that accepting transgender people into the military may not be cost-effective. The numbers of extra transgender recruits one can draw on are small, whereas the cost per recruit is much larger compared to a non-transgender person. The US military isn't a charity. It's not an agency for people to sign up and get a free gender change.
  
  What you describe as "pandering to his base," a more neutral person might describe as making a decision that tens of millions of Americans are very comfortable with.
  
  I remain of the opinion that the US military will one day accept transgender recruits. It may take a little longer under Trump, but it's surely coming.