Donald Trump justified his ban on transgender people serving in the military in part by citing the cost of trans troops’ healthcare. Between 2016 and 2019, the military spent approximately $8 million on medical care for the servicemembers, with the vast bulk going to therapy.
Leaked copies of Trump’s tax returns show that in 2010, he claimed a $73 million refund – 28 times the cost of yearly healthcare costs for almost 15,000 servicemembers.
Related: Surprise! “Black trans Trump supporter” on Twitter exposed as a total fake
In a damning exposé by the New York Times, Trump used every trick in the book to avoid paying his fair share of taxes. In both 2016 and 2017, he only paid $750. In 10 of the previous 15 years, he paid no taxes at all. While he reported millions of dollars in income, he claimed massive losses at his businesses to lower his tax burden.
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Trump wrote off over $70,000 in expenses for hair styling.
Trump has long used the cost of transgender people’s health care as a justification for banning them from the military, even though it would cost far less than 1% of the price of the border wall.
Trump has also taken funds from the military budget to pay for the wall.
