President Trump’s Defense Secretary Pete Heseth is reporting that enlistment in the U.S. military is up from last year, and he gives credit to the Trump administration’s anti-woke, anti-DEI policies in the military.
Note: While the recruiting numbers for the current fiscal year 2025 continue to rise (data is limited), it should be noted that the Defense Department’s armed services branches also recruited 12.5% more people in fiscal year 2024 than in the year prior — a rise occurring during the Biden administration.
As seen below at the Pentagon, Hegseth said young men and women in this nation want to be excellent. He added, “If they want woke garbage they can go to college.”
Note: After graduating from Princeton University in 2003, Hegseth was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army through the university’s Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program.
. @SecDef If young men and women want woke garbage, then they can go to college.
If they want to train to be a warrior and be a part of something bigger than themselves and raise their right hand and seek purpose and honor and duty, join the U.S. Military. pic.twitter.com/GTcJEfuSUH
— DOD Rapid Response (@DODResponse) May 19, 2025
More than one commenter on X is noting the irony of Hegseth, a graduate of an elite Ivy League school, mocking the advantages to be gained from higher education and degrading the value of the college experience.
As one objector replied: “@PeteHegseth went to college, and so did the commissioned officers of our military, including those currently serving on his staff. President Trump also went to college and accepted five deferments rather than serve his nation. What a strange statement from the SecDec.”
“But to be an officer, you need a college degree… Awkward” and another: “So no new officers then?” and “So all who go to college are woke?” And another: “way to trash the fine young men and women of the Simultaneous Membership Program and the ROTC… ya gotta get better social media aide.”
Army veteran Daniel Scheeler implied that Hegseth “doesn’t know that the vast majority of those who sign up to serve do so because of the GI Bill. That’s literally it.”
Note: According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: between 2009 and 2019, more than half (54%) of eligible enlisted military veterans used G.I. Bill benefits to pay for their higher education. In January 2025, the Biden administration announced that more than 1 million veterans may be eligible for an additional year of G.I. Bill benefits.