Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday said an article published by the Washington Post implying he’d consider a mandatory military service rule at the urging of some in his inner circle is "completely untrue" and that he's "never even thought" of instituting a national service requirement.
US President Donald Trump salutes cadets at the 2020 US Military Academy graduation ceremony in West ... [+]
Trump took to Truth Social to blast the newspaper and deny any claims he'd back mandatory service in the Armed Forces, which has been an all-volunteer operation for more than 50 years.
The Washington Post cited support for compulsory military service from former Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller, who Trump has suggested could return to the Pentagon if he’s elected to a second term, as reason to believe the presidential candidate may consider such a plan.
Miller, who served as Defense Secretary in the last few months of Trump's term as president, has said he supports all high school students taking an aptitude test for military service positions and that a national service requirement should be “strongly considered,” the Post reported, adding that Trump’s campaign declined to comment on the topic.
Others on Trump's radar who've signaled potential support for national service requirements include Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio—a potential Trump vice presidential pick—Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and former Trump and George W. Bush defense official Rob Hood, according to the Post.
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“The Fake News Washington Post came up with the ridiculous idea that Donald J. Trump will call for Mandatory Military Service,” Trump posted to Truth Social. “This is only a continuation of their EIGHT YEAR failed attempt to damage me with the Voters. The Story is completely untrue. In fact, I never even thought of that idea.”
Mandatory military service is the idea that a specific group of people—usually all men and sometimes women—must serve in their country’s armed forces for a minimum amount of time, typically between one and three years. Dozens of countries have some type of mandatory military service, including Russia (which requires a year of service for men between the ages of 18 and 27), Singapore (which has a two-year requirement for men between the ages of 18 and 21) and Israel (which requires almost three years of service for men and two for women). The United States has never had a blanket military conscription policy but has instituted drafts in both peace and wartimes. The first peacetime draft was enacted in 1940 prior to U.S. entry into World War II and the last time non-volunteers were made to serve in the armed forces was during the Vietnam War. The last draft call was on December 7, 1972.
41,000. The American military service missed recruiting goals by about 41,000 people last year, the Department of Defense reported, citing a "difficult recruiting environment."