Did trump dodge draft
Executive summary
Donald Trump did not serve in the Vietnam-era draft: public records and contemporary reporting show he received four educational deferments and a later medical deferment for bone spurs that kept him out of service [1]. Critics label that outcome “draft dodging,” while defenders note the deferments were legally granted at the time; former attorney Michael Cohen has testified that the medical claim was fabricated, an allegation Trump denies [1] [2].
1. What the record shows: five deferments, no Vietnam service
Contemporaneous reporting and archival summaries document that Trump received four student deferments while in college and a fifth deferment in 1968 for bone spurs, and consequently did not serve in Vietnam—an outcome described in Business Insider’s explainer of his draft history [1].
2. How opponents describe it: “draft dodging” as moral indictment
Political opponents, commentators and some veterans’ voices have used the phrase “draft dodger” to condemn Trump’s avoidance of service, framing the medical deferment and earlier college exemptions as emblematic of privilege allowing some men to avoid frontline duty; this framing appears across outlets including Sky News and opinion pieces that explicitly call him a draft-dodger [3] [4].
3. The contested allegation: Michael Cohen’s claim of fabrication
Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer, testified before Congress that Trump invented medical problems to dodge the draft, a claim reported by Military Times that escalated the debate by asserting the bone-spur diagnosis lacked medical basis according to Cohen—an allegation Trump has denied and critics note Cohen has incentives to discredit his former client [2].
4. Legal deferments versus illegal evasion: a distinction often blurred
Fact-checkers and historical context underline a crucial distinction: many men received lawful educational and medical deferments during the Vietnam era, and avoiding service through legally obtained deferments differs from illegal evasion such as fleeing the country—PolitiFact and other analyses emphasize that “draft dodging” is sometimes used loosely in public debate, while the legal record for Trump shows sanctioned deferments rather than criminal draft evasion [5] [1].
5. Broader context: common practice among socioeconomically privileged men
Reporting and commentary place Trump’s experience within a broader pattern: deferments disproportionately benefited young men with access to higher education or influence, making avoidance of Vietnam service common among certain social strata—Business Insider and Army Times pieces note that other future presidents and public figures also avoided frontline service through deferments or other means [1] [6].
6. Competing incentives and the politics of accusation
The debate over whether Trump “dodged” the draft is suffused with political incentives: critics use the phrase to attack character, pundits and veterans evoke moral betrayal, and allies stress legality and common practice; sources themselves carry agendas—Cohen’s testimony came amid legal troubles and political scorched-earth narratives, while partisan commentators amplify moral interpretations [2] [7].
7. Bottom line: did he dodge the draft?
If “dodge the draft” is defined colloquially as avoiding military service, then yes—Trump avoided Vietnam-era service by using four student deferments and a later medical deferment for bone spurs [1]. If the question asks whether he illegally evaded the draft, the available public record cited by contemporary reporting and fact-checking shows he received lawful deferments rather than having been convicted or documented as committing illegal draft evasion; allegations that the medical claim was fabricated come from Michael Cohen and remain contested [1] [2] [5].