UNITED States President Donald Trump has called upon Congress to “permanently ban and criminalise sex change on children” as part of his campaign to remove what he termed “wokeness” from civil society and the military.
In a joint address late Tuesday (local time), Trump continued his attack on sexual diversity in schools, workplaces, and the armed forces.
His remarks followed his earlier statement that “the US will recognise only two genders” and his opposition to transgender rights and gender-affirming care for minors.
“I want Congress to pass a bill permanently banning and criminalising sex changes on children… and forever ending the lie that any child is trapped in the wrong body. This is a big lie, and our message to every child in America is, ‘you are perfect exactly the way God made you’,” he declared.
“Because we are getting wokeness out of our schools and out of our military… and it’s already out and it is out of our society. We don’t want it. Wokeness is trouble. Wokeness is bad. It’s gone and we feel so much better for it, don’t we? Don’t we feel better?” Trump said. “Our service members won’t be activists and ideologues. They will be warriors. They will fight for our country.”
In a lengthy address to Congress, Trump also asserted that he had “removed the poison of critical race theory” from public schools, referring to a framework that identifies systemic racial bias in Western societies due to historically entrenched inequalities in social, legal, and economic institutions.
Critical Race Theory (CRT) has emerged as a contentious issue in Trump’s administration, with several states prohibiting its instruction.
Critics argue that CRT portrays all White people as racial oppressors, whereas academics assert that the theory examines systemic inequalities rather than individual racism.
Trump’s speech also contained multiple contentious statements, including his denunciation of diversity and inclusion initiatives, which he described as a form of “tyranny”.
The President further discussed the tariff measures imposed by his administration and referenced India in this context.
“Other countries have used tariffs against us for decades now. On an average, many nations… India, Mexico, and Canada, they charge us tremendously higher tariffs than we charge them.” “This situation is not fair to the US. So from April 2, reciprocal tariffs kick in. Whatever they tax us, we will tax them,” he announced, drawing cheers from Republican lawmakers.
Meanwhile, economists have cautioned that escalating tariff disputes could hamper US economic growth and contribute to inflationary pressures.
