On August 21, this is what the President told troops at Fort Myers:
By following the heroic example of those who fought to preserve our republic, we can find the inspiration our country needs to unify, to heal, and to remain one nation under God. The men and women of our military operate as one team, with one shared mission, and one shared sense of purpose.
They transcend every line of race, ethnicity, creed, and color to serve together -- and sacrifice together -- in absolutely perfect cohesion. That is because all servicemembers are brothers and sisters. They're all part of the same family; it's called the American family. They take the same oath, fight for the same flag, and live according to the same law. They are bound together by common purpose, mutual trust, and selfless devotion to our nation and to each other.
The soldier understands what we, as a nation, too often forget that a wound inflicted upon a single member of our community is a wound inflicted upon us all. When one part of America hurts, we all hurt. And when one citizen suffers an injustice, we all suffer together.
Loyalty to our nation demands loyalty to one another. Love for America requires love for all of its people. When we open our hearts to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice, no place for bigotry, and no tolerance for hate.
The young men and women we send to fight our wars abroad deserve to return to a country that is not at war with itself at home. We cannot remain a force for peace in the world if we are not at peace with each other.
As we send our bravest to defeat our enemies overseas -- and we will always win -- let us find the courage to heal our divisions within. Let us make a simple promise to the men and women we ask to fight in our name that, when they return home from battle, they will find a country that has renewed the sacred bonds of love and loyalty that unite us together as one.
On August 22, this is what the President said in Phoenix:
This evening, joined together with friends, we reaffirm our shared customs, traditions and values. We love our country. We celebrate our troops. We embrace our freedom. We respect our flag. We are proud of our history. We cherish our Constitution, including, by the way, the Second Amendment.
CROWD: USA! USA! USA!
TRUMP: We fully protect religious liberty. We believe in law and order. And we support the incredible men and of law enforcement.
(APPLAUSE)
And we pledge our allegiance to one nation under God.
(APPLAUSE)
You always understood what Washington, D.C. did not. Our movement is a movement built on love. It's love for fellow citizens. It's love for struggling Americans who've been left behind, and love for every American child who deserves a chance to have all of their dreams come true.
TRUMP: From the inner cities to the rural outposts, from the Sun Belt to the Rust Belt, from east to west and north to south, our movement is built on the conviction that every American from every background is entitled to a government that puts their needs first.
(APPLAUSE)
It is finally time to rebuild our country, to take care of our people, and to fight for the jobs our great American workers deserve, and that's what we're doing.
(APPLAUSE)
CROWD: USA! USA! USA!
TRUMP: After our amazing election victory, the forgotten men and women -- remember we used to talk about the forgotten men and women before the election? Guess what? They're not forgotten...
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: ... anymore (ph), right? Anymore. No, they're not forgotten anymore folks. In fact, they're trying to figure you out. They're saying the obstructionists, how do we get them to vote for us? I don't think that's going to happen any time soon.
We believe that every American has the right to live with dignity. Respect for America demands respect for all of its people. Loyalty to our nation requires loyalty to each other, We all share the same home, the same dreams and the same hopes for a better future. A wound inflicted upon one member of our community is a wound inflicted upon us all. You saw last night. You saw last night.
(APPLAUSE)
Did anybody watch last night? Yes.
(APPLAUSE)
When one part of America hurts, we all hurt. And when one American suffers an injustice, all of America suffers together. We're all together.
It's time for us to follow the example of our brave American soldiers. And I was with a lot of them last night, Fort Myers.
(APPLAUSE)
No matter where they come from, no matter what faith they practice, they form a single unbreakable team. That's what we are. We're a team. As a nation, we're a team.
(APPLAUSE)
They're all united by their devotion to our country and to their mission. It's time for all of us to remember that we are all on the same team. We are all Americans, and we all believe right now in America first.
(APPLAUSE)
And it's happening, and it's happening fast. I see all those red hats and white hats. It's all happening very fast. It's called "Make America Great Again." You see what's going on.
(APPLAUSE)
It's coming back, very fast.
We want every child to succeed, every community to prosper and every struggling American to have a chance for a better life. What happened in Charlottesville strikes at the core of America.
And tonight, this entire arena stands united in forceful condemnation of the thugs who perpetrate hatred and violence.
(APPLAUSE)
Today, this is what the President told The American Legion:
"It is time to heal the wounds that divide us and to seek a new unity based on the common values that unite us. We are one people with one home and one great flag," Trump told veterans at the American Legion convention here.
"We are not defined by the color of our skin, the figure on our paycheck or the party of our politics," he said. "We are defined by our shared humanity -- by our citizenship in this magnificent nation, and by the love that fills our hearts."
"We have no division too deep for us to heal, and there is no enemy too strong for us to overcome. Because in America, we never lose faith. We never forget who we are, and we never stop striving for a better future. Together, we cannot fail. We will not fail. We will make America great again -- greater than ever before, I promise."
Tonight, however, The Los Angeles Blade passed on the gist of a paywalled Wall Street Journal story that tells a different tale:
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 2½-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.
That guidance was also watered down from the complete ban Trump ordered to one that would allow active duty trans service members to continue serving after even Republicans opposed the policy change.
The weakened policy requires that recruitment and the accessions policy be halted (they are now), enlistment contracts not be renewed, promotions result in discharges, and transgender-specific healthcare be prohibited.
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