Trump’s acolytes, despite his alleged draft-dodging during his youth are reportedly flirting a return to mandatory military service in the event he is re-elected. Christopher Miller, who was acting defense secretary for the last two months under Trump’s tenure, and could be the next leader of Pentagon, told the Washington Post that it should be reinstated.
[[{“value”:”Despite Trump’s reported draft- dodging in his youth, the former president’s acolytes are apparently flirting with a return to requiring mandatory military service if he’s re- elected.
Christopher Miller, former acting defense secretary during the last two months of Trump’s term—and, possibly, the next leader of the Pentagon—told the Washington Post this week that it should be” strongly considered”, calling it a “rite of passage” that would create a sense of” shared sacrifice” among young people.
” It reinforces the bonds of civility”, Miller reportedly said, adding, “why would n’t we give that a try”?
Miller has previously presented these ideas in writing for Project 2025, the blueprint for Trump 2.0, which was created by numerous traditional organizations and led by the Heritage Foundation. Miller argued that that in order to “improve military recruiters ‘ access to extra schools,” all public school students must complete the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, a standardized test created by the Department of Defense to assess young people’s skills in order to match them with a military job. Project 2025 does not” speak for President Trump or his campaign, who only set his agenda,” according to a Heritage Foundation spokesperson.
Miller claimed that the test could be used to strengthen defense weaknesses:” If we’re going to prepare for a great-power competition, it’s good to have a good understanding of the pool of potential military service members and their specific aptitudes prior,” he said.
Trump called the reporting” fully misleading” in a post on Truth Social. ” In fact”, he wrote,” I never even thought of that idea”.
But many others in his orbit have: Rumored Trump vice presidential pick J. D. Vance ( R- Ohio ) told the Washington Post,” I like the idea of national service. And I’m not talking about in wartime”. And Sen. Lindsey Graham ( R- S. C. ) told the paper he would “take no option off the table” to address shortages in the military.
The concept of bringing up necessary service, though, is politically unpopular, especially among those it would really affect. According to a 2017 Gallup poll, while nearly half ( 49 percent ) of Americans overall support the idea of a draft, a majority of those under age 30 ( 57 percent ) are against the idea.
And this may be why, strangely, the right is trying to make their base believe that Democrats are the ones who want to reintroduce the draft. Donald Trump Jr. was one of the speakers at this weekend’s Turning Point Action convention in Michigan, which is a gathering place for far-right extremists. My colleague Stephanie Mencimer reported from the scene.
” Someone’s gotta fight these wars, and it’s not going to be the Democrats”, Don Trump Jr. said, without evidence, to boos from the crowd. They want to draft young women right away, but they do n’t want to do it for a well-known war; instead, they want to draft our women for an unpopular war so they can fill Raytheon board seats.
Democrats are literally fighting women, according to @donaldjtrumpjr, who claims that adding women to specialized services programs is evidence that they are. #PEOPLES2024 pic. twitter.com/jK4dG65W1I— Turning Point Action (@TPAction_ ) June 15, 2024
The House Defense bill was actually passed by Republicans on Friday, which included a provision that would automatically register young men for selective service, essentially the database that would be used if a draft was authorized, as opposed to manually doing it and putting them at risk of a possible federal felony charge if they do n’t. The former president’s son appeared to be making his remarks about women being forced to serve in remarks about a Thursday vote by the Senate Armed Services committee that approved passing the National Defense Authorization Act with a provision that would require women to register for selective service. That’s very different from the people in Trump World, who are apparently considering requiring all young people to serve in the military. ( We reached out to Donald Trump Jr. to find out what policy he was referring to, and we’ll keep you informed if anything becomes unclear. )
However, the Trump administration has no prior experience with standing up for evidence in the face of compulsion to serve in the military. Do we need to bring up the infamous bone spurs?”}]] Despite Trump’s reported draft- dodging in his youth, the former president’s acolytes are apparently flirting with a return to requiring mandatory military service if he’s re- elected. Christopher Miller, former acting defense secretary during the past two months of Trump’s term—and, perhaps, the second leader of the Pentagon—told the Washington Post this week that it should be
Trump’s acolytes, despite his alleged draft-dodging during his youth are reportedly flirting a return to mandatory military service in the event he is re-elected. Christopher Miller, who was acting defense secretary for the last two months under Trump’s tenure, and could be the next leader of Pentagon, told the Washington Post that it should be reinstated.
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