The Vietnam Draft-Dodger Who Sat Out the Next Great War: Why No One Should Be Surprised That Trump Is Abandoning Ukraine
“He wasn’t going to Vietnam.” — Former attorney Michael Cohen’s 2019 testimony on how Donald Trump avoided the draft.
From Fake Bone Spurs to Foreign Betrayals
Donald J. Trump has spent a lifetime talking tough while avoiding the fights that define leadership. In the 1960s, he dodged Vietnam through four student deferments and a medical exemption for “bone spurs.” Selective-Service files and Washington Post reporting confirm the deferments; the medical excuse later drew scrutiny when Cohen told Congress Trump admitted the injury was fabricated.
Half a century later, facing a new test of courage, Trump has again chosen the sidelines. As Russia pounds Ukrainian cities, Trump calls the invasion “smart” and “savvy,” dismissing the conflict as “somebody else’s war.” For a man who built his brand on domination, it’s a familiar pattern of ducking duty, praising power, and letting others pay the price.
The War He Won’t Fight
Ukraine’s struggle is not just another foreign crisis; it’s the frontline defense of democracy against authoritarian expansion. Each Russian missile that levels an apartment block is an assault on the global order the United States once swore to protect.
When the world needed a unified response, Trump undercut it. During his first term he withheld military aid while pressing Kyiv for political favors, an abuse of power that triggered his first impeachment. Later he sought to ease sanctions on Moscow’s oligarch network and questioned NATO’s purpose altogether.
Now, instead of pressing for air-defense coalitions or deterrence strategies that could shorten the war, he floats surrender rhetoric suggesting Ukraine should “give up some land.” Military analysts estimate that a U.S.–NATO air umbrella, using existing F-15s, F-22s, and European jets, could deny Russia the skies and sharply reduce civilian casualties. The capability exists; what’s missing is will, leadership, and courage.
How Trump Helped Putin
No American president has done more to legitimize Vladimir Putin. He weakened sanctions enforcement, stalled arms packages, and publicly sided with Moscow over U.S. intelligence agencies at the 2018 Helsinki summit. He called Putin “a genius” even after the 2022 invasion, echoing Kremlin talking points that painted Ukraine as corrupt and undeserving of Western defense.
The results are visible: a delayed flow of heavy weapons to Kyiv, diplomatic confusion among allies, and emboldened autocrats who see American hesitation as invitation. Putin doesn’t need Trump to fight for him; he only needs him not to fight at all.
The Shadow War in the Americas
While Europe burns, the Trump administration has expanded lethal maritime operations in Latin-American waters under the banner of “anti-trafficking.” Reuters and the Associated Press document multiple U.S. strikes on small boats off Venezuela and in the eastern Pacific that left more than a dozen dead. Pentagon briefings described the targets as “drug-smuggling vessels,” but neither the evidence nor the legal justification has been released.
Admiral Alvin Holsey, who led U.S. Southern Command, announced early retirement amid growing unease inside the military over these missions. The Guardian and Politico report that his departure followed internal disagreements about the scope and legality of the operations.
Regional governments in Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador have demanded explanations after survivors claimed the victims were fishermen, not traffickers. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International warn that without transparent investigations the United States risks violating international law.
These strikes reveal Trump’s version of war: safe, remote, and politically convenient. He may shy from confronting Putin, but he’ll green-light missiles against nameless men in small boats thousands of miles from home.
Projection as Policy
Trump’s supporters still call him a “fighter.” Yet every real battle, Vietnam, Ukraine, the defense of democratic alliances, finds him missing in action. His pattern is psychological as much as political: project strength, avoid risk, and attack the vulnerable to mask fear. He accuses Ukraine of corruption while cozying up to oligarchs. He derides generals who serve under fire but praises despots who jail opponents. When asked about Putin’s assassinations, Trump shrugged: “There are a lot of killers. You think our country’s so innocent?” That moral relativism is not strategy, it’s surrender.
America’s $900 Billion Blind Spot
The United States spends nearly $900 billion a year on defense, more than the next ten nations combined. Yet under Trump, much of that deterrent power sits idle. He once claimed he could end the Ukraine war “in 24 hours,” but offered no plan beyond personal diplomacy with Putin. Meanwhile, U.S. air superiority, the same technology that could shield civilians, is wasted on show-of-force missions in the Caribbean.
Strategists across the political spectrum warn that inaction invites escalation. Allowing Russia to crush Ukraine would set a precedent every autocrat understands: aggression pays. History teaches that wars ignored today become wars fought tomorrow.
Why No One Should Be Surprised
Voters shouldn’t be shocked that the man who dodged Vietnam now dodges Ukraine. Courage is a habit formed or forfeited early. Trump’s record shows a lifetime of self-preservation dressed up as patriotism. He bluffed his way out of one draft and now bluffs his way through geopolitics, hoping rhetoric can substitute for responsibility. The difference is scale. In the 1960s, his cowardice cost him credibility. Today, it costs other people’s lives.
“Trump’s courage begins and ends with someone else pulling the trigger.”
The Lesson for 2025 and Beyond
America doesn’t need another strongman. It needs a statesman, one willing to face the fights that matter. The war in Ukraine is the moral test of our generation. Standing aside is not neutrality; it’s complicity. A democracy that lets fear masquerade as realism will wake up one day to find its courage gone. Donald Trump’s biography already gave us the ending: the draft-dodger who never grew into a leader, sitting out the biggest battles of his life and ours.
Sources
- The Washington Post — Questions linger about Trump’s draft deferments during Vietnam War
- Politifact — Was Trump a ‘draft dodger’?
- Military Times — Cohen: Trump made up injury to dodge Vietnam service
- Reuters — U.S. military kills 11 people in strike on alleged drug boat from Venezuela
- Associated Press — Ecuador says no evidence survivor of U.S. strike committed crime
- The Guardian — Admiral Alvin Holsey to retire amid controversy over Caribbean operations
- Politico — Top admiral retires early amid drug-boat strikes
- Human Rights Watch — The Trump Administration and Human Rights
- Amnesty International — U.S. must ensure accountability for overseas operations
