Trans officials describe forced exits from CIA and military under Trump
Two senior transgender US officials, a CIA officer and a military colonel, describe being pushed out under Trump's anti-trans executive orders.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
Two of the most senior transgender people to have served in the US national security establishment have described being forced out of their roles under executive orders issued by President Donald Trump. Julia Curley, a former CIA officer who spent 20 years at the agency and served in the White House under both Trump administrations, and Bree Fram, a retired colonel who served 23 years in the Air Force and Space Force, spoke publicly about their experiences.
Curley said she was fired from the White House after an online provocateur, Laura Loomer, tweeted about a trans Biden holdover in the intelligence office. She said that within minutes of being told she was fired, her phone filled with messages from friends forwarding the tweet. 'Someone had called her as the cleanest way to get rid of me,' she said. She briefly returned to the CIA but resigned in May 2025, saying she broke down crying as she left.
Fram was forced to retire as a colonel after the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to implement a plan to ban and purge transgender members of the military. She had served five tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and described being deployed to Iraq in 2004 to detect and counter improvised explosive devices. She called the argument that transgender service members weaken the military 'bull', saying that women and every other group had proven themselves.
Both officials said the purge extended far beyond trans people and had hollowed out expertise from America's national security community. Fram warned of 'generational damage', saying the military was rolling back decades of progress in making everyone feel they have a place. Curley, who had briefed both Donald Trump and Mike Pence, said the administration was weaponising differences for cynical purposes, noting that Trump had relied on a trans person for briefings on Air Force One.
Curley also expressed concern about the broader direction of the country, saying life for trans people in America was 'very, very difficult', with states divided between those offering basic dignity and those driving people underground. She said she planned to stay and fight, and described an encounter with a woman who said she stayed because Curley had stayed.
The interviews come as the Trump administration continues to enforce policies that recognise only two genders, male and female, and has targeted transgender people across government agencies and the military.
On screen
Stills are sampled automatically at 60-second intervals. Where shown, the still is the nearest available frame from the relevant broadcast segment and is included to show what was on screen during that part of the broadcast. A still may not correspond to the exact second of a quoted phrase.
Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | Channel 4 |
|---|---|
| Bree Fram, described as the most senior transgender person on active duty in the US military, was forced to retire due to an executive order. | |
| Julia Curley, described as the most senior out transgender person in the US intelligence community, was fired from the White House after a tweet by Laura Loomer. | |
| The purge has hollowed out expertise and caused generational damage to the military and national security community. |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
Channel 4 focused on the personal testimony of the two officials, giving extensive airtime to their emotional accounts and their warnings about the broader damage to national security. The tone was sympathetic to the officials and critical of the Trump administration, framing the purges as part of a cynical political strategy. It also highlighted the contradiction that Trump had previously relied on a trans person for briefings.
- “I guess I was the wrong type of American.”
- “It's bull. There is no more clear answer than women and every other group in the military has proven themselves.”
- “This is generational damage that we have gone back incredibly far.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.