IT took two years for former president Donald Trump to have his policy on banning transgender people from the US armed forces, and yesterday it took President Joe Biden about ten seconds to reverse it.
The new president signed an executive order yesterday requiring both the Pentagon and the Homeland Security Department to remove gender identity as a bar to service.
The White House stated: “The all-volunteer force thrives when it is composed of diverse Americans who can meet the rigorous standards for military service, and an inclusive military strengthens our national security.”
It was a bad day for one of Trump’s greatest supporters, lawyer and former mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani, who was hit with a writ for defamation from the Dominion Voting Systems company. They want $1.3 billion, £1.15bn, in damages over his months of alleging that the systems were rigged in favour of Biden.
The company’s lawsuit said Giuliani ran “a viral disinformation campaign about Dominion” that was made up of “demonstrably false” allegations.
Giuliani said in a press statement: “Dominion’s defamation lawsuit for $1.3bn will allow me to investigate their history, finances, and practices fully and completely.”
Ahead of his impeachment in the Senate, which was due to start as The National went to press, it was a better day for Trump when the US Supreme Court ordered the dismissal of two lawsuits that accused him of unconstitutionally profiting from his presidency.
Both sides in the case agreed the disputes had become legally moot after Trump left office on January 20.
Hotels, restaurants and the attorney generals of Maryland and the District of Columbia had all sued Trump saying that as president he had benefitted from a stream of foreign and state government officials who patronised his properties.
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