The grave of Gene Simmers, United States soldier and Vietnam veteran, who passed away in 2022

Jesse Ventura didn’t hold back when asked about Donald Trump, blasting the former president over his Vietnam-era draft deferments.

Ventura — a former Navy SEAL and governor of Minnesota — said he refuses to even say Trump’s name, calling him “the draft-dodging coward.”

Daniel Ellsberg, a U.S. military analyst who secretly photocopied 7,000 pages of classified documents about the Vietnam War and later leaked them in 1971 as "Pentagon Papers," exposing years of misleading information from U.S. officials. This leak became one of history’s most famous whistleblowing.

The U.S. public is not happy with The White House and Karoline Leavitt for saying that a military draft is on the table

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about the possibility during a briefing, sparking backlash online as many Americans say they would strongly oppose any return to conscription.

If a draft were ever reinstated, the process would run through the Selective Service System — the federal agency that maintains a registry of eligible men ages 18–25. In the event of a national emergency, the president — currently Donald Trump — could request authorization from Congress to activate the draft.

If approved, the Selective Service would begin a lottery system based on birth dates, calling up individuals for medical and background screening, with some qualifying for deferments or exemptions before being sent to military training.

The U.S. hasn’t used a draft since the Vietnam War era, but the system remains in place in case it’s ever needed again.

My grandpa said that Vietnam was the only time in his life where even winning felt like losing