Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, sent emails to the nation's top generals saying President Donald Trump's decision to end transgender military service "was unexpected," and that he intended to say he was "not consulted," BuzzFeed News is reporting.
The emails reportedly went out less than 24 hours after Trump had tweeted on July 26, 2017 that he had consulted his generals and military experts on his decision, BuzzFeed News said.
BuzzFeed News said it has obtained two emails sent by Dunford on the day after the tweets. The emails were sent to generals of the Army, Air Force, National Guard, Navy and Marines.
The first email from Dunford came at 7:55 a.m. on July 27, 2017. According to BuzzFeed News it said: "I know yesterday's announcement was unexpected." The email also provided the generals a draft of a memo saying Trump's tweets had not changed any policy yet.
BuzzFeed News reported that he sent a follow-up message at 10:57 a.m. the same day and said: "P.S. When asked, I will state that I was not consulted … expect that question will come NLT (no later than) my September hearing."
He appeared to be referring to a Sept. 26, 2017 hearing in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee. At the hearing, Dunford said he favored transgender troops. However, he was not asked whether Trump consulted him in advance and made no mention of it.
USA Today reported several federal court rulings have blocked military officials from implementing Trump's policy.
However, the Pentagon is expected to announce a new policy for transgender troops this week, the newspaper said.
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