The Trump administration plans to automatically register all 18-year-old men for military draft eligibility by December, marking a dramatic shift from decades of self-registration. The change carries a pointed irony: President Donald Trump himself secured five draft deferments during the Vietnam War, including a medical exemption for bone spurs.
The Selective Service System submitted the automatic registration proposal to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs on March 30, implementing a requirement Congress approved last December as part of the National Defense Authorization Act. The bipartisan measure transfers responsibility for registration from individual men to the federal government through integration with existing federal databases, including Social Security and Census Bureau records.
The timing has intensified debate over military preparedness. The proposal arrived roughly a month after the United States and Israel launched a war against Iran on February 28, killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in the opening strikes. A fragile two-week ceasefire took effect April 8, brokered by Pakistan, but collapsed into renewed tensions after weekend peace talks in Islamabad ended without agreement. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt acknowledged in March that Trump “wisely keeps his options on the table” when asked about reinstating a military draft.
Trump secured four student deferments during the Vietnam War era while attending Fordham University and the Wharton School. After graduating in 1968, he received a medical exemption at age 22 for bone spurs in his heels. The daughters of the Queens podiatrist who signed the diagnosis later told The New York Times their father provided it as a favor to Trump’s father, Fred Trump, who rented him office space. Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen testified to Congress that when he asked Trump for medical records substantiating the claim, Trump “gave me none and said there was no surgery.” Trump attended the New York Military Academy, a prestigious military-style boarding school, but never served in the United States armed forces. Approximately two million Americans were drafted during the Vietnam War era before conscription ended in 1973.
The automatic registration system represents a significant departure from current law, which requires men between 18 and 25 to self-register within 30 days of their 18th birthday. The Selective Service System accepts late registrations until age 26. Failure to register carries serious consequences: up to five years in prison, fines reaching $250,000, and potential denial of government employment and some state-based student aid.
Registration rates have declined in recent years, dropping from 84% of eligible men in 2023 to 81% in 2024, according to Selective Service reports to Congress. Currently, 46 states and territories automatically register men when they apply for driver’s licenses, but the new federal system would ensure comprehensive nationwide coverage and reduce the $11 million the agency spends annually on advertising campaigns urging men to register.
Pennsylvania Democratic Representative Chrissy Houlahan, who sponsored the automatic registration language in the defense bill, said the change would allow the government to “rededicate resources—basically that means money—towards [readiness] and towards mobilization.”
The proposal arrives as Trump has dramatically expanded American military commitments abroad, despite campaigning as a peace candidate in 2024. In his first year back in office, he launched strikes in Venezuela to capture President Nicolás Maduro, initiated the war with Iran, and at one point threatened to wipe Iran’s “whole civilization” off the planet. He has also threatened military action against Mexico and Colombia over drug trafficking, sought to annex Greenland from NATO ally Denmark—refusing to rule out military force until walking back the threat in January—and asserted claims over the Panama Canal.
The shift to automatic registration has fueled concerns among some Americans that the government is preparing for potential mandatory conscription if the Iran conflict escalates or new crises emerge. Congress would need to pass legislation to authorize an actual draft before anyone could be compelled to serve. President Jimmy Carter signed the law requiring draft registration in 1980, and the United States has relied on an all-volunteer military force since the Vietnam War ended.
The proposal remains under regulatory review. If approved, the system would mark the most significant change to military draft registration procedures in more than four decades, automatically enrolling millions of young American men in a database that exists solely to facilitate rapid mobilization in the event of a national emergency requiring congressional authorization of a draft.
Trump has also mused publicly about awarding himself the Congressional Medal of Honor—the nation’s highest military decoration, reserved for those who demonstrate extraordinary valor in combat. During his State of the Union address in February, Trump told 100-year-old Medal of Honor recipient Capt. E. Royce Williams, “I’ve always wanted the Congressional Medal of Honor, but I was informed I’m not allowed to give it to myself.” More than 3,500 recipients have received the award since its establishment in 1861, all of whom served in the military.