New Delhi: US President Donald Trumpon has put a ban on transgenders serving in the U.S military.

"After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military," Trump wrote on Twitter in a surprise announcement.

"Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgenders in the military would entail,'' he added.

The move reversed transgenders' hard-won rights during the Obama  administration to serve in the military, among the several Obama-era liberal and progressive advances that Trump has rolled back.

By some accounts there are more than 15,000 transgender personnel in the U.S military. There is now growing apprehension that the issue of sexual orientation could return centerstage as conservatives seek to push back liberal gains of the last several years.

Expectedly, the White House strike against transgenders outraged Democrats and liberals. "Every patriotic American who is qualified to serve in our military should be able to serve. Full stop," raged former vice-president Joe Biden even as legal challenges were being discussed in some quarters.

Some Republican lawmakers were also taken aback. "No American, no matter their sexual orientation or gender identity, should be prohibited from honor + privilege of serving our nation #LGBT," tweeted Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Florida Republican who has a transgender son.