Trump cannot change the way the military works simply by tweeting it out. In fact, he is unable to change military policy at all. Military policy is changed by Congress not the president. If Donald Trump had bothered to read the Constitution he would know this.
Congress changes policy not the president
For a man who “swears” to love the Constitution he really does not seem to know what it is. On July 26 he tweeted that the government would no longer allow transgender people to serve in the military. He went further in stating that they would not be able to serve in any fashion.
This would not only impact transgender people coming into the military, though. This would also have an impact on those already serving.
Clearly Trump skipped the portion of the Constitution that actually forbid him from enacting this ban. While he is Commander-in-Chief, Article 1, Section 8 clearly states that Congress has the power to makes rules for the military.
Classic Trump misdirection
This was naturally meant as a misdirection. Things are going horribly wrong for the man at the moment. From the ongoing Russian investigation to his issues with AG Sessions, Trump has had a bad two weeks.
Add on top of that Republicans cannot get together and pass a repeal of ACA as they had promised for seven years. Because Trump promised in the campaign that he would get rid of the ACA, this is a huge black mark for him.
What else could he do but go after a group of people that all Republicans can agree to hate. Transgendered people. So he tweeted a ban on transgender people from serving in the military.
Just those three simple tweets took focus off the failures of the Republican Party for a full day.
Trump’s tweet storm more dangerous than we knew
When Trump sent out his tweets in the early morning it left the Pentagon scrambling. Why? Trump sent out three tweets but there was a ten minute gap between the first and second tweet.
He did not mention the transgender ban until the second tweet and people at the Pentagon believed he was actually tweeting out bombings of North Korea.
Not only were military leaders taken by surprise (despite Trump tweeting that he had consulted with them), they had no plan to institute the ban. The only way that they will institute the ban is if so ordered through the normal processes.
For ten agonizing minutes Pentagon leaders thought we were about to go to war with North Korea. This is a major reason why announcing policy changes should never be done via Twitter.
Trump ban more for support
The bottom line is that whether or not Trump believes he can ban people via Twitter (he does), this was more about ensuring support among his base.
If there is anything Republicans love more than ineffective government, it’s hating the right groups. Right now their biggest target is transgender people. They do not understand why people would change their gender (to match what they feel they are) so they hate it.
What is the surest way to make sure your base still supports you? Banning something you do not agree with.
This was just the tip of Trump Titanic
Yes there was more awful things that Trump did this week that probably garnered more attention. But seriously how do we keep track of it all?
For more than a week he has publicly trashed his Attorney General Sessions on Twitter. Mostly for two reasons, he will not stop the Russia investigation and Sessions will not investigate Clinton. There is a belief that Trump is planning on firing sessions and appointing a new AG via a recess appointment.
There was also his bizarre, Hitler-like (I personally hate that comparison but honestly I cannot think of a better one) speech to the Boy Scouts of America. Having been a Cub Scout I was disgusted by the speech.
Of course, his truest fans are not about to abandon him. Add to that Congressional Republicans like to say the right things, but ultimately do not do anything. All of this will continue either for the next four years or if Trump resigns.
Buckle up.
