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President Donald Trump said Monday he will sign a flurry of executive orders focused on the military, including to reinstate troops booted for refusing COVID-19 vaccines and remove “transgender ideology” from the force, just as 

Defense Secretary and Minnesotan Pete Hegseth

″We will offer full reinstatement to any service member who was expelled from the armed forces due to the COVID vaccine mandate,” Trump told a Republican crowd at the Trump National Doral Miami, a resort he owns. “And we will restore them to their former rank with full pay.”

The order, once signed, isn’t expected to have a major impact on the number of service members returning since they have been able to re-enlist since 2023 and only a tiny fraction have sought to do so. But it could take a bite out of the budget if more do now, since it requires back pay.

The orders could further clarify initial directives Trump issued shortly after his inauguration last week, when he 

removed protections for transgender troops

 put in place by former President Joe Biden and banned DEI initiatives at federal agencies.

At least 8,200 troops were forced out of the military in 2021 for refusing to obey a lawful order when they declined to get the vaccine. Notices advising them they could return were sent out in 2023, but just 113 have re-enlisted.

The reinstatement process for those ousted for refusing the vaccine requires that they meet military entry standards, unless Trump opts to change that. He and Hegseth, however, have persistently stated that the military must not reduce standards.

They would have to meet weight, fitness, medical and other requirements, and they could be refused if they now have a criminal record or other disqualifying factor. Officers would have to get recommissioned, which is a simple appointment process.

According to the services, 3,748 Marines were discharged, and 25 have opted to re-enlist; 1,903 Army soldiers were discharged, and 73 returned; 1,878 sailors were discharged and two returned; 671 airmen were discharged and 13 returned.

 in August 2021 for all service members, including the National Guard and Reserve. At that time, the pandemic was still killing and sickening tens of thousands around the country, and troops were being used to help get people vaccinated.

Then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said getting the vaccine was critical to maintaining a heathy, ready force that could be prepared to defend the nation. The Pentagon formally dropped the mandate in January 2023, as a result of legislation signed into law.

Defense officials said then that many troops appeared to use the vaccine mandate as a way quickly and easily to get out of their service obligations. And officials on Monday said many of those service members had gotten new jobs and moved on with their lives, and didn’t want to re-enlist.

Trump had tried to impose a ban on transgender troops during his first term, but it was tangled up in the courts for years before being overturned by Biden shortly after he took office in 2021.

The new order on transgender troops does not impose an immediate ban, but directs the Pentagon to come up with a policy on their service in the armed forces based on military readiness, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.

Hegseth told reporters as he arrived at the Pentagon that his first official day would be busy, with additional executive orders expected “on removing DEI inside the Pentagon, reinstating troops who were pushed out because of COVID mandates, Iron Dome for America — this is happening quickly."

Trump promised during the campaign to build an Iron Dome, the advanced 

It was not immediately clear what the additional order on DEI — diversity, equity and inclusion — would be, but Trump's initial action 

ending those programs across the U.S. government

 already has had far-reaching consequences. Without clearer direction, 

agencies have been taking a broad approach

 at removing any content that seemed to run afoul of Trump's ban.

 and World War II Women's Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs, which were part of DEI training courses for the Air Force's basic military training. Videos on both the Tuskegee Airmen and WASPs were removed as the courses were taken down last week, causing an uproar.

WASPs were vital in ferrying warplanes for the military. The Tuskegee Airmen were the nation’s 

, who served in a segregated WWII unit, and their all-Black 332nd Fighter Group had one of the lowest loss records of all the bomber escorts in the war.

On Sunday, the Air Force clarified that the DEI courses had been removed to be edited but that the Tuskegee Airmen and WASP content would continue to be taught.

“The revised training which focuses on the documented historic legacy and decorated valor with which these units and Airmen fought for our Nation in World War II and beyond will continue on 27 January,” the Air Force said in a statement.

Hegseth said in a post on X on Sunday that any move to cut the Tuskegee Airmen content was “immediately reversed.” But the swirl of confusion reflects an ongoing struggle as leaders across the Defense Department try to purge diversity mentions from their websites and training.

 on Monday morning accompanied by Gen. CQ Brown Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. But in other comments, Hegseth said that “military training will be focused on the readiness of what our troops in the field need to deter our enemies.”

Hegseth is also continuing to focus on the border, and told reporters gathered on the steps of the Pentagon that “whatever is needed at the border will be provided,” using active duty, National Guard and state-activated Guard troops.

 on Friday night in a tie vote that had to be broken by Vice President JD Vance.

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President Donald Trump says he will sign a flurry of executive orders focused on the military, including to reinstate troops booted for refusing COVID-19 vaccines and remove “transgender ideology” from the force. 

New Trump orders on transgender troops, COVID and more expected on Hegseth’s first day

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