Retired Lt. Col. Daniel Davis had four combat deployments during his 21 years in the Army, and is a two-time Bronze Star recipient. Now, he is a senior fellow at Defense Priorities, a foreign policy think tank.

He said people stopped joining the military during the Biden administration because it was viewed as “woke” and because the top military brass in Washington were more interested in playing politics than defending the country. 

“They’re like, ‘We just don’t feel like we can trust these guys,’ and so they’re proving it by not joining up,” Davis told Fox News Digital. “And one of the bigger things was, the guys who have been in, guys like me, for example – if someone asked us, ‘Do you think we should join up?’ I would have said ‘No.’ I didn’t trust the military leaders and I didn’t trust the administration.”

But with Trump in office, Davis thinks the pendulum is swinging in the other direction. 

“Trump said he brought [Secretary of Defense Pete] Hegseth in to bring back the warrior culture, to bring back accountability and merit promotions, etc., as opposed to any quotas or criteria, and that really appealed to all those folks that were not signing up,” David said, adding that Trump is viewed as more “pro-America” and more “pro-service member” than his predecessor. 

President Donald Trump speaks next to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, April 30, 2025. (Reuters/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo)

He also said Trump appeals to potential military members because of his promise not to enter the United States into what he calls “stupid wars.”

“And he says he doesn’t want to get into stupid wars. He wants to get the one in Russia over with,” said Davis, cautioning that it is still too early in Trump’s second term to know exactly how his foreign policy positions will play out. 

“But as long as Trump stays on this path of bringing peace and not sending people out to fight dumb wars, then I think you’ll see the numbers keep rising.”