Pentagon still awaiting White House guidance on transgender military ban

The Pentagon still has not received guidance from the White House since President Trump tweeted that transgender individuals may not serve in the U.S. military, the Pentagon confirmed Monday.

"What we saw was what amounts to an announcement from the commander in chief," Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis said of the series of tweets that Trump posted last Wednesday, in which he wrote that "no transgender individuals" will be allowed "to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military."

"We are now in the process of waiting for that to be formally articulated to us in a policy memo. We'll be standing by to make that happen," Davis said.

Last week Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a memo to military commanders, "There will be no modifications to the current policy until the president's direction has been received by the secretary of defense and the secretary has issued implementation guidance."

"We are awaiting formal guidance," Davis told reporters, adding that the Pentagon has reason to believe it will get a formal direction in writing from the White House.