This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The Pentagon is pushing back against media claims that the number of female military recruits are down under President Trump, pointing to actual statistics.
As Fox News reported, women recruitment is up in all branches of the armed forces in Fiscal Year 2025.
"The media's narrative that the female recruitment numbers have either fallen or stayed the same under Secretary Hegseth and President Trump is 100% fake news," a defense official told Fox. "Leadership matters, and women are excited to serve under the strong leadership of Secretary Hegseth and President Trump."
Around 7,260 more women have enlisted so far this fiscal year than at this point last fiscal year: from 16,725 to 23,985, according to Pentagon figures.
Female recruitment is trending up just as overall recruitment numbers have. The U.S. Army surpassed its overall recruitment goals in June, four months before the end of the fiscal year.
As Fox reports, after record-low recruitment in 2022, the trend began to reverse in 2024, with the armed forces bringing in 12.5% more personnel than the year prior.
Hegseth has credited a return to "war fighting" and repudiation of woke policies for what has been called the "Trump bump" in recruitment.
"They see leadership … that says, 'We want you to be warriors. We're not doing this politically correct garbage anymore. We're doing war fighting,'" Hegseth said during a visit to Normandy, France, in June.
"The bottom line is this administration and Secretary Hegseth has prioritized lethality and mission readiness over political pandering. That's exactly why women, and men, all across the country are more trusting of their leadership and more willing to serve," Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., an Air Force veteran, is quoted as saying.
