Truth revealed after White House’s ‘bizarre excuse’ for why Barron Trump was exempt from US Army draft – The Hook news

The rumour spread in early March as tension over US military action against Iran fed a surge of online commentary about whether the children of political leaders should be expected to serve if a conflict escalates. Posts on social platforms repeated a line alleging that Barron Trump, widely believed to stand somewhere around 6ft 9in, had been ruled out of service because of his height. The message was often framed as a White House statement, which gave it an appearance of authority even though no official source supported it. Fact-checkers later found no record of such a statement in White House material, and no evidence that President Trump’s administration had publicly addressed Barron Trump’s military eligibility at all.

What gave the claim extra momentum was the fact that it arrived at a moment of intense public scrutiny over military obligations. In the United States, there is currently no active draft. Registration with the Selective Service System remains mandatory for almost all male US citizens and male immigrants between the ages of 18 and 25, but registration is not the same thing as induction into the armed forces. The Selective Service System says that in any future crisis requiring conscription, men would first be called through a lottery process and then examined for physical, mental and moral fitness before any deferment, exemption or induction decisions were made. Reuters reported last year that registration has been required by federal law since 1980 and does not mean someone is automatically drafted.