Drafting a Presidential Son? The Manosphere Wants to Talk About It

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Drafting a Presidential Son? The Manosphere Wants to Talk About It

With news of a change to the Selective Service, memes and social media chatter abound about who would be sent to war.

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Doug Mills/The New York Times

By

Jesse McKinley

April 10, 2026,

5:00 p.m. ET

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As often happens during military conflicts, the issue of the draft — which was phased out more than 50 years ago — has resurfaced in the public sphere, and online, since the attacks on Iran were launched. And in this case, some antiwar critics have found a target for their ire and fears: Barron Trump, the president’s 20-year-old son.

Almost as soon as the bombing of Iran started in late February, memes and AI-generated images began to appear showing the Trump scion in

fatigues

and other military gear, implying he should be sent into battle. The images were shared widely on social media, sometimes alongside a hashtag — #SendBarron — even as one satirist started a

“Draft Barron Trump” website

, suggesting that sending Barron Trump to war would reflect his father’s strength.

This week, those kinds of images and sentiments surfaced anew

with news

that the

Selective Service System

was moving to automatically register eligible men for the draft, a largely administrative

rule change

which would take effect by the end of the year. Currently,

the responsibility falls on the men themselves

, though many states also have registration options when young men apply for driver’s licenses or other IDs. Since 1980, men aged 18 to 25 have been required to register.

Since the beginning of the war on Feb. 28, critics of President Trump, such as former Gov. Jesse Ventura of Minnesota, have

called on Barron Trump to enlist

. At the same time, some prominent past supporters of President Trump have also mentioned the idea of him serving, including popular podcaster Theo Von, who suggested on Sunday that Barron Trump

should help fight the war

, while discussing the issue with influencer Jake Paul.

Last week, Mr. Von had posted that “the elites and politicians that are leading us into these wars might make different choices if it was their children.” That came after an angry appearance on a podcast with Joe Rogan, another Trump backer who has been critical of the president’s decision to go to war.

The comments, online and elsewhere, highlight both the unsettled debate over President Trump’s war in Iran, which is currently being paused in a fragile two week cease-fire, as well as the president’s own, sometimes fraught, history with the military.

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