Judge Ana C. Reyes issued a preliminary injunction the previous day and ordered that policy on trans troops should remain as it was prior to Trump's January 27 executive order, but delayed the implementation of her decision until Friday morning.

"We are appealing this decision, and we will win," Hegseth wrote on X, above an image of a headline reading: "Judge blocks Trump's transgender military ban."

In his executive order, Trump stated that "expressing a false 'gender identity' divergent from an individual's sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service."

The Pentagon followed that up with a memo issued in late February stating that it would remove transgender troops from the military unless they obtain a waiver on a case-by-case basis, as well as prevent others from joining.

If the ban goes into effect, it could affect thousands of currently serving troops.

The restrictions in the memo are aimed at those who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria -- of whom there were 4,240 serving in the military as of late last year, according to a senior defense official -- as well as those who have a history of it.

Reyes wrote in her opinion that the Trump administration's ban is unlikely to survive judicial review, and that the plaintiffs face irreparable harm in the form of a violation of their constitutional rights.

"The cruel irony is that thousands of transgender service members have sacrificed -- some risking their lives -- to ensure for others the very equal protection rights the military ban seeks to deny them," the judge wrote.

Transgender Americans have faced a roller coaster of changing policies on military service in recent years, with Democratic administrations seeking to permit them to serve openly, while Trump has repeatedly sought to keep them out of the ranks.