It’s Official: Trump Directs Pentagon to Enact Trans Military Ban

Nearly one month after announcing via Twitter he'd ban transgender people from U.S. military, President Trump made good on his promise in a memo to the Pentagon Friday enacting a ban on their service -- although the fate of transgender people currently in the armed forces remains to be seen. In a memo dated Aug. 25 to the Pentagon and Department of Homeland Security, Trump asserts the Obama administration "failed to identify a sufficient basis" to end the ban on transgender military service in June 2016 and directs the U.S. military to put the prohibition back in place.

Mattis tells troops to ‘hold the line’ until US is less divided

In an impromptu speech while traveling abroad, Secretary of Defense James Mattis told a group of young troops to "just hold the line until our country gets back to understanding and respecting each other." Footage of Mattis' off-the-cuff remarks was posted to a Facebook page titled "U.S. Army W.T.F! Moments," a group that focuses on Army-related news and entertainment stories.

Mnuchin watched the eclipse from the roof of Fort Knox on his…

Vice President Mike Pence, left, talks to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin accompanied by his fiancA e Scottish actress Louise Linton after he was sworn-in Monday, Feb. 13, 2017, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. CREDIT: AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta Earlier this week, Louise Linton, the wife of Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin posted an Instagram picture of her walking off a government plane, individually tagging every high fashion designer she was wearing and hashtagging her #hermesscarf.

White House Gives Pentagon Six Months to Create New Trans Military Ban Policy

White House guidance on the transgender military service ban President Trump ordered via tweet July 26 is headed to the Pentagon, as soon as Thursday afternoon or possibly Friday morning, a senior White House source told the Los Angeles Blade. The Guidance has been boiled down to a 21/2-page memo that directs Defense Sec. Mattis to come up with a policy in six months, stop spending money on transgender-related medical treatment for active duty trans servicemembers and gauges fitness for service based on "deployability"--whether the trans individual can ably serve in a war zone and engage in military exercises or function a ship for months, officials told the Wall Street Journal .

Billionaires park their yachts in front of the Statue of Liberty and people aren’t happy

Billionaires park their yachts in front of the Statue of Liberty and people aren't happy The rich-guy antics have obstructed views of the iconic monument and left tourists fuming Check out this story on jconline.com: https://usat.ly/2wFphbt That was the tact of Russian-American oil tycoon Eugene Shvidler, who reportedly anchored his 370-foot vessel, "Le Grand Bleu," next to Lady Liberty for weeks at a time between April and June. No sooner did he leave Liberty Bay than Swiss-Italian scion Ernesto Bertarelli parked his 318-foot "Vava II" in the same waters, followed by German billionaire Reinhold WA1 4rth in his relatively modest, 280-foot "Vibrant Curiosity" earlier this month, according to reports.

Bodies of some the 10 missing US sailors found after collision off Singapore

Bodies of some of the 10 missing sailors have been found in flooded compartments of the USS John S. McCain, a Navy destroyer that collided with a commercial vessel east of Singapore early Monday morning, the U.S. Navy said. Ten sailors have been missing since the collision, and the remains of some were found by divers performing recovery operations inside the ship, Adm.

DOD to invest $17M on laser weapons research in New Mexico

The Department of Defense is investing $17 million in directed energy laser weapons, Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., announced at the Boeing facility in Albuquerque, N.M., on Wednesday. "With our state's unique expertise in directed energy work, this funding will jump start the deployment of this critical technology and bring more high-paying jobs to the state," said Heinrich , a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

General Kelly Commands the White House, But He Can’t Control Trump

Since retired Marine Corps General John Kelly started as White House chief of staff last month, President Donald Trump has added a routine caveat before approving proposals advisers place before him: Check with "The General" before moving ahead. It's a marked departure from Trump's instinct to manage around Kelly's predecessor, Reince Priebus.

Navy confirms downstate sailor among those missing from USS McCain

The U.S. Navy has identified a sailor from the USS McCain whose remains were recovered after a crash earlier this week, and it has released the names of nine other sailors still missing, including a man from downstate Illinois. The Illinois man, Logan Stephen Palmer, 23, a Third Class Interior Communications Electrician, went missing after the McCain crashed into an oil tanker near Singapore earlier this week, according to a news release from the Navy.

Mississippi shipyard to fix destroyer hit in June collision

In this July 11, 2017 photo provided by U.S. Navy Office of Information, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald moves into Dry Dock 4 at Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan, to continue repairs and assess damage sustained from its June 17 collision with a merchant vessel. Poor seamanship and flaws in keeping watch contributed to a collision between the Navy destroyer and a commercial container ship that killed seven sailors, Navy officials said, announcing that the warship captain will be relieved of command and more than a dozen other sailors will be punished.