Trump vows to 'stop transgender lunacy' as a top priority

President-elect Trump vows to end transgender rights, deport migrants, and restore US control of Panama Canal.

President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday (December 22, 2024) pledged to "stop the transgender lunacy" on day one of his presidency, as Republicans— set to control both chambers of Congress and the White House— continue their push against LGBTQ rights.

"I will sign executive orders to end child sexual mutilation, get transgender out of the military and out of our elementary schools and middle schools and high schools," the President-elect said at an event for young conservatives in Phoenix, Arizona.

He also vowed to "keep men out of women's sports," adding that "it will be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female."

Speaking to the AmericaFest conference in a border State he easily carried in the November election, Mr. Trump further promised immediate measures against "migrant crime," vowed to designate drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, and doubled down on his talk of restoring U.S. control of the Panama Canal.

Transgender issues have roiled U.S. politics in recent years, as Democratic- and Republican-controlled States have moved in opposite directions on policy such as medical treatment and what books on the topic are allowed in public or school libraries.

Last week, when the U.S. Congress approved its annual defence budget, it included a provision to block funding of some gender-affirming care for the transgender children of service members.

In his speech Sunday, which amounted to something of a victory lap, Mr. Trump made expansive promises for his second term— and drew a dark picture of the four years preceding it, under President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the latter of whom he defeated in the 2024 election.