What to Know
At this point, Donald Trump basically invented the phrase ‘never let them know your next move.’ After the United States made efforts to attack Iran through airstrikes, rumors began swirling on the internet about Trump bringing back a military draft to ensure the U.S. military has enough numbers in various branches.
Then, Fox News spoke with press secretary Karoline Leavitt and asked her about the growing concern of a potential draft for soldiers. In a clip from that news segment that was posted on X (formerly Twitter), Leavitt doesn’t deny the idea of a draft. Although she doesn’t outright say that Trump is considering this as a potential play, which would need to be supported by Congress by the way, people took Leavitt’s answer as confirmation enough.
Karoline Leavitt said not much is off the table for the war in Iran.
Karoline Leavitt says Trump may bring back the draft for Iran war pic.twitter.com/1xVHUOQ4PR
— Headquarters (@HQNewsNow) March 9, 2026
In the clip from the Fox News segment, Leavitt is asked about the possibility of Trump trying to reinstate a draft decades after it ended. Leavitt is asked about keeping soldiers in the air and preventing “boots on the ground” in Iran after the anchor mentions the fear from mothers about their sons and daughters being drafted.
“President Trump wisely does not remove options off of the table,” Leavitt says. “I know a lot of politicians like to do that quickly, but the president as Commander in Chief wants to continue to assess the success of this military operation.” Until 1973, men in the U.S. were drafted in order to keep the military full in wartime.
But no, Leavitt did not confirm that Trump is planning to try for a military draft.
But her comment about Trump keeping all options on “the table” made some wonder if that’s also in reference to a draft being reinstated in the U.S. And those who didn’t take that to be her answer assumed that Leavitt’s lack of a direct response about the draft is damning enough.
“Trump cannot bring back the draft. Only Congress can declare a war that authorizes a draft, and only Congress has the power to legislate the terms of a draft,” someone pointed out as a response to the X post. “Leavitt, as usual, is lying and misleading.”
“Impeachment will be imminent if that occurs,” another user commented.
Someone else wrote, “Trump is destabilizing the global economy & dragging the world toward death and destruction. He has no plan — NONE!” Hey, maybe no plan means no plan to bring back a draft, so that’s something.
She was slammed for smiling while talking about the war.
— Stingbb (@no_cult) March 9, 2026
During the same Fox News clip, Leavitt smiles broadly as she talks about the conflict in Iran and the U.S.’s part in it. Someone took a quick screen-grab of her smiling face and added it to the responses to the X post with the video, because why not? According to many, Leavitt as Trump’s mouthpiece isn’t doing him any favors in the face of this so-called operation in Iran.
READ NEXT: Karoline Leavitt’s Expensive Shoes Are on Full Display Amid Affordability Crisis
