Donald Trump launched a furious attack on the Washington Post Tuesday after a new report suggested mandatory military service might be a priority if he wins a second administration.
The presumptive Republican nominee denied on-the-record reporting by the Washington Postwhich shows his former defense secretary Christopher Miller, whom he floated as a possibility to return to that role, has contributed to the right-wing Project 2025 strategy for remaking the federal government. He told the newspaper that a national service requirement should be “strongly considered.”
“It reinforces the bonds of civility,” Miller told the Post. "Why wouldn’t we give that a try?”
Miller's plan would require all public high school students to take the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery standardized test, which the Defense Department uses to place recruits into roles that match their abilities, and give military recruiters more access to secondary schools to help meet a recruiting gap.
“If we’re going to prepare for a great-power competition,” Miller said, “it’s helpful to have a baseline understanding of the pool of potential military service members and their specific aptitudes prior.”
Trump, who famously avoided military service himself during the Vietnam War due to a timely diagnosis of bone spurs, insisted the report was inaccurate, although several of his allies, including Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and J.D. Vance (R-OH) expressed support for compulsory service.
"The Fake News Washington Post came up with the ridiculous idea that Donald J. Trump will call for Mandatory Military Service," Trump posted on 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. Only a degenerate former Newspaper, which has lost 50% of its Readers, would fabricate such a tale. Just another Fake Story, one of many, made up by the DEAD Washington Compost!"
The Trump campaign distanced itself from Miller's suggestion, as with any Project 2025 policy proposal, and told the Post only statements from the former president or an “an authorized member” of his reelection team “should be deemed official.”