Did Donald Trump receive multiple draft deferments during Vietnam War?
Executive summary
Donald Trump received five draft deferments during the Vietnam War era — four student deferments while in college and a later medical classification that permanently disqualified him from service — a record documented in contemporary reporting and Selective Service records obtained by researchers [1] [2] [3]. The medical deferment — commonly described as for "bone spurs" in his heels — is both affirmed in contemporary records and disputed in its specifics and provenance, leaving room for competing interpretations about whether it reflected an authentic disabling condition or the advantages of status and access [2] [4] [5].
1. The factual record: five deferments, four academic and one medical
Multiple independent outlets and archival sources report that Trump was granted four student deferments while attending Fordham and then Wharton, and later received a medical reclassification that removed him from eligibility for service, yielding five total deferments that kept him out of Vietnam [1] [2] [3].
2. What the classifications meant then and later
Those student deferments were routine 2‑S classifications available to full‑time college students during the 1960s; after graduation Trump’s classification shifted and ultimately he was placed in a 4‑F status — "not qualified" for military service — in 1972 following the medical finding, which effectively ended any prospect of induction absent a declared national emergency [6] [2].
3. The contested medical finding: bone spurs and competing accounts
The medical exemption is usually described as a diagnosis of bone spurs in Trump’s heels, but the provenance and severity of that diagnosis have been questioned: archival reports relied on Selective Service paperwork and contemporaneous letters, while Michael Cohen later testified that Trump had acknowledged fabricating an injury to avoid Vietnam — an allegation Cohen said he had been asked to help tamp down — a claim that conflicts with the documentary trail and which remains disputed [2] [4].
4. Context: how draft deferments functioned and who used them
Deferments for college and medical reasons were common and disproportionately used by wealthier or better‑connected Americans; historians and critics note that the system resulted in lower‑income men filling a larger share of combat roles in Vietnam, a pattern criticized by figures across the spectrum and exemplified in commentary by the late Sen. John McCain [7] [5].
5. Political interpretations and motivations behind the debate
The factual record of five deferments has been weaponized in political debates: critics frame the pattern as evidence of privilege or draft‑dodging, supporters argue the deferments were lawful and commonplace and that avoiding service during an unpopular war was defensible, and allies have disputed characterizations that suggest dishonorable conduct; Michael Cohen’s allegations introduce an additional politically charged personal testimony that cannot, on its own, overturn contemporaneous Selective Service records [4] [1] [2].
6. Limits of the evidence and how confidently one can conclude
While Selective Service documents and multiple reputable outlets corroborate the count and types of deferments Trump received, many Vietnam‑era medical records were not preserved and independent verification of the exact medical diagnosis, its timing, and whether any doctor misstated facts is limited; therefore the settled factual claim is that Trump received five deferments, while the intent or impropriety behind the medical finding remains contested [2] [6].
7. Bottom line — direct answer
Yes: the contemporaneous record shows Donald Trump received multiple draft deferments during the Vietnam War era — specifically four student deferments and one medical deferment that culminated in a 4‑F classification — and while the medical deferment’s details and whether it was improperly obtained are disputed, the basic fact of five deferments is established in reporting and archival records [1] [2] [3].