President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order banning trans surgery for minors, describing it as a barbaric act that ought not to be allowed.

Mr Trump, who had declared there are only two genders, announced this development in a post on Truth Social on Tuesday.

“Today, it was my great honour to sign an Executive Order banning the chemical castration and medical mutilation of innocent children in the United States of America,” Mr Trump said.

The U.S. president described chemical and medical mutilation of children as a barbaric act, directing all federal agencies to cut funding for such procedures.

“Our nation will no longer fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support so-called ‘gender-affirming care’, which has already ruined far too many precious lives.

“My order directs agencies to use every available means to cut off federal financial participation in institutions which seek to provide these barbaric medical procedures that should have never been allowed to take place,” Mr Trump said.

The U.S. president noted in his executive order that “countless children soon regret that they have been mutilated and begin to grasp the horrifying tragedy that they will never be able to conceive children of their own or nurture their children through breastfeeding.”  

He added, “Moreover, these vulnerable youths’ medical bills may rise throughout their lifetimes, as they are often trapped with lifelong medical complications, a losing war with their own bodies, and, tragically, sterilization.

“Accordingly, it is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures.”

This order came barely two weeks into his second stint in the White House. Mr Trump had vigorously campaigned against transgender, vowing to end it in America.