The United States’ military attacks against Iran were barely a week old when a controversial topic surfaced: Could the war require the first military draft since the early 1970s?
After White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt spoke to Fox News host Maria Bartiromo March 8, some portrayed her comments as President Donald Trump opening the door to a military draft.
Here’s the exchange:
Bartiromo: “Mothers out there are worried that we’re going to have a draft — that they’re going to see their sons and daughters get involved in this. What do you want to say about the president’s plans for troops on the ground? As we know, it’s been largely an air campaign up until now.”
Leavitt: “It has been, and it will continue to be, and President Trump, wisely, does not remove options off of the table. I know a lot of politicians like to do that quickly, but the president, as commander in chief, wants to continue to assess the success of this military operation. It’s not part of the current plan right now, but the president, again, wisely keeps his options on the table.”
Trump weighed in on ground troops — but not a draft — during March 7 remarks to reporters on Air Force One. Responding to a question about ground troops, he said, “Could there be? Possibly, for a very good reason. Have to be a very good reason.”
Uncertainty over Leavitt’s comments thrust the topic of a draft back in the newsprompting criticism from political figures such as former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.
Asked to clarify Leavitt’s remark to Bartiromo, the White House referred PolitiFact to Leavitt’s full statement.
Given the confusion such comments set off, we’ve put together a primer on how a draft would work in the U.S. and under what circumstances it could be instituted.
What is the draft?
There currently is no draftor mandatory conscription into the military. The U.S. military has been an all-volunteer force since 1973, as the Vietnam War was ending. The draft had become enormously unpopular after being deployed during Vietnam, when 58,000 Americans died.
However, the U.S. requires that male citizens and male immigrants ages 18 to 25 register with the federal Selective Service System, the agency responsible for running a draft in the event one is needed. Registering with the agency does not mean enlistment will follow; it is a potential list to draw from if a draft is declared.
According to the Selective Service Systemalmost all men must register with the agency, including “U.S. born and naturalized citizens, parolees, undocumented immigrants, legal permanent residents, asylum seekers, refugees, and all males with visas of any kind which expired more than 30 days ago.”
Men who are hospitalized or institutionalized must register if they were released for more than 30 days between the ages of 18 and 25. Some men with disabilities are also required to register even if they would not qualify for military service. Men with religious or moral objections to war also must register, although they can file for exemption in the event of a draft.
People who are not required to register include women; men who have been hospitalized, institutionalized or cannot leave home from their 18th birthday to their 26th birthday; and men ages 18 to 26 who are already on full-time active military duty.
The current policy does not specify whether transgender people must register, but a January 2025 executive order barred transgender people from serving in the military.
Instituting a draft would require an act of Congress. A National Draft Lottery would determine the order of selection based on birth date, with the first age group chosen being 20-year-old men during the year of the lottery.
How plausible is a draft currently?
A military expert told PolitiFact that the likelihood of a draft is very low based on how the war is currently developing.
“There is no way that there will be a draft in this war,” said Mark F. Cancian, a senior adviser for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a national security-focused think tank. A draft “is opposed by the military, which wants volunteers; by the people, because it disrupts their lives; and by Congress, because it angers voters.”
Cancian said no draft was needed during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, both of which included significant numbers of ground troops. Given the time it could take to enact a law initiating a draft, hold a draft and train those who are drafted, it’s not clear whether the war would still be underway by the time such manpower could be deployed on the battlefield.
What has Trump said about the draft prior to the Iran war?
Trump did not get called up when he was of draft age during the Vietnam War era — first through student deferments, which were considered routine, and later for physical reasons that Trump has said were related to bone spurs. There is no evidence that any of Trump’s classifications violated Selective Service law.
During the 2024 campaign, Trump used the draft as an issue against his opponent, then-Vice President Kamala Harris.
At a September 2024 rally in Las Vegas, Trump said, “Would anybody like to be drafted, in the audience? Because that’s what they’re doing. She’s already talking about bringing back the draft. She wants to bring back the draft, and draft your child, and put them in a war that should never have happened.”
We rated Trump’s statement Pants on Fire. Trump was exaggerating the effect of a Senate proposal to require women to register for the draft. The provision would not have instituted a draft, Harris was not one of the sponsors, she did not express an opinion on the draft and it was not enacted.
The draft has been a common source of online misinformation
-
A June 2024 Threads post said all men ages 18 to 26 “have automatically registered in the U.S. army.” We rated this claim False. Almost all men ages 18 to 25 must register with Selective Service and failing to do so is a crime. This process is not automatic.
-
A 2022 Tiktok video posted after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine falsely said the U.S. military reinstated a draft that included women.
-
A 2023 Facebook post said then-President Joe Biden announced a military draft. The video was generated by artificial intelligence.
