Former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, is calling on President Trump's son, Barron, 20, to enlist in the military, saying, "Do something your father didn't have the courage to do, do something your father didn't have the patriotism to do."
Ventura, 74, appeared on "Piers Morgan Uncensored" with British host Piers Morgan, in a wide-ranging televised discussion on the war in Iran. Ventura suggested Trump, 74, is operating with a double standard by sending young American men and women to war, while avoiding doing the same within his own family.
"A war is justified if you're willing to send your kids. Because how can you send somebody else's kids to a war if you won't send your own?," said Ventura on the show, a clip of which was posted online and reviewed by Military.com. "So I'm calling right now for Baron Trump, Donald Trump's son, cause afterall, he's had three wives, he's got kids by each wife, and nobody's ever served in the military to my knowledge."
Over the years, biographers have noted that Trump's father, Fred Trump Sr., who died in 1999 at the age of 93, was in his 30s during World War II, and was deemed necessary in the construction sector as a rising contractor, avoiding direct military service.
It's also been widely reported that Trump himself, during the Vietnam War, received four student deferments and one medical deferment for bone spurs in his heels, resulting in no active duty. He attended the New York Military Academy, a private boarding school, but did not serve in the armed forces.
“How can you send somebody else’s kids to a war if you won’t send your own?” said Ventura, a former governor of Minnesota. Ventura, who served during the Vietnam War, slammed President Trump’s war with Iran, which has claimed the lives of 13 U.S. service members and injured hundreds more.
“A Trump in the last 100 years has never done military service,” said Ventura, who is also a WWE Hall of Famer. "Well Baron, you can change that, enlist in the United States military right now."
Military.com has reached out to the White House for a response to Ventura's comments on "Piers Morgan Uncensored" and is awaiting a reply. Meantime, Ventura says he's proud of his own military service. His official biography, states Ventura served in the Navy for six years from 1969 to 1975, with four years on active duty, and was part of the "Brownwater Navy" during the Vietnam War, though he has stated he never saw direct combat. He completed the grueling BUD/S training, which is the same training pipeline required for Navy SEALs.
"Everybody in my family has served. So I think I can say that with all due confidence," Ventura said. "C'mon, Trumps. Don't just reap the benefits of this free world. Somebody put on the uniform, and that's you, Baron."
Trump's son Baron is the president's fifth and youngest child, and is also his third son after Donald Trump, Jr. and Eric Trump. Baron is the only child of Trump's third marriage to Melania Trump.
Ventura also noted Baron's height of six-feet, nine inches tall.
"I heard the excuse that Baron might be too tall," said Ventura in his comments to Piers Morgan. "David Robinson served on active duty, he was seven feet tall before he ever went to the San Antonio Spurs basketball team."
As for Baron Trump, in 2024, he enrolled at New York University's Stern School of Business. He is currently a student at the school's Washington, D.C. campus near the White House. In July 2024, Baron Trump co-founded a real estate company, which was dissolved after his father was re-elected to a second presidency. Baron would be of draft age if a draft were authorized by his father and Congress.
