President Donald Trump has been touting the Army’s recent recruiting success and seeming to suggest that his election had something to do with it.

“We asked why this was taking place now, and they just said there’s a spirit about our country that they haven’t seen in many, many years. And, I happen to agree with that,” he said.

Trump said the Army had its single best month in more than 15 years in December. But the 5,877 December recruits is fewer than in the five previous months, although significantly better than in December 2023.

As for a connection to the election, it takes, on average, 10-12 weeks for applicants to take the required tests before they can sign their papers and be counted as recruits. So, people counted as recruited in December most likely began the process in the late summer or fall.

Trump correctly notes that Army recruiting is rebounding. That is largely due to new programs, incentives and other changes put in place in 2023.

His assertion that the Army missed its recruiting goal for every month in the past four years, however, is wrong. It met its monthly target for a majority of the months in the past fiscal year and for every month in the current one.