The US Army released its latest recruitment advert to promote the no-nonsense approach of the Trump era – and the differences between the Biden-era adverts were stark.
In the latest video released this week, a tattooed Special Forces fitness trainer performed huge feats of strength in the gym, including deadlifting 500lbs raw.
The clip also showed the burly trooper lifting a heavy yoke over his shoulders, before he says to the camera: ‘Stronger people are harder to kill.’
Viewers quickly compared the latest advert to one pushed out by the military in May 2021, during the Biden administration.
The ad, titled ‘Emma’, told the story of Army officer Emma Malonelord, who operates the Patriot Missile Defense Systems, showing her from her childhood being raised by two moms.
She begins the clip saying: ‘Although I had a fairly typical childhood, took ballet, played violin, I also marched for equality… I like to think I have been defending freedom from an early age.’
The story went on to show how Emma gained confidence from watching one of her moms re-learn to walk after an accident so she could walk down the aisle to marry Emma’s other mother.
Viewers took to social media to slam the ‘Emma’ ad as the ‘most hated military recruitment advert of all time’, and said the newer ad showed the military had entered a new era under Trump.
The US military released its latest recruitment advert to promote the no-nonsense approach of the Trump era, titled: ‘Stronger people are harder to kill’
The advert showed a tattooed Special Forces master fitness trainer performing feats of strength in the gym, including deadlifting 500lbs and carrying a yoke over his shoulders
Viewers compared the masculine advert with a Biden-era recruitment ad from May 2021, showing the story of ‘Emma’ who grew up with two moms
The ‘Emma’ ad, telling the story of Army officer Emma Malonelord, who operates the Patriot Missile Defense Systems, was panned as a woke approach to military recruitment
Malonelord came under fire after appearing in the 2021 military advert, with Texas Senator Ted Cruz blasting the promotional video to his millions of followers.
‘Holy c***’ Cruz tweeted at the time. ‘Perhaps a woke, emasculated military is not the best idea.’
The ‘Emma’ advert was viewed over five million times, but the Army YouTube account removed the comments section after it received backlash.
Two weeks into its release, the clip had over 36,000 dislikes and only 775 likes, leading to the comment restrictions, reported the Army Times.
‘We started noticing a significant uptick in negative commentary,’ Laura DeFrancisco, public affairs chief for the Army Enterprise Marketing Office, told the outlet at the time.
‘The comments violated our social media policy and were not aligned with Army values.
‘Out of respect for the safety and wellbeing of our soldiers and their families, we have disabled the comments.’
Texas Senator Ted Cruz led condemnations of the advert three years ago, branding it ‘woke’ and ‘emasculating’
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced on this month that the U.S. Army hit 15-year-high recruitment in January
Hegseth posted about the record-high recruitment in a post to X, crediting the surge in the reelection of Trump
It comes as the US Army hit its highest recruitment figures in more than a decade in response to Trump retaking the White House.
A flood of young people enlisted in the wake of Trump’s election victory in November.
An Army spokesman confirmed to DailyMail.com the branch has now reached 59 percent of its recruiting goal for Fiscal Year 2025.
Trump’s new Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in an X post: ‘America’s youth want to serve under the bold & strong ‘America First’ leadership of Donald Trump.’
Hegseth said the number of Army volunteers reached a 12-year high in December 2024. That was then overshadowed by a 15-year high recruitment figure in January.
The former Fox News host did not specify how many people joined up in those two months and the Army did not immediately respond to a DailyMail.com request for clarification on the figures.
But the Army posted to X that it recruited an average of 346 soldiers every day in December, meaning that approximately 10,700 were added to the roster in that month alone.
The surge shows the increasing interest from Americans who want to serve in the armed forces under the new administration.
Thousands of Marines and soldiers are being deployed to the southern border to provide additional security and prevent illegal border crossings. Pictured: Marines put up barbed wire at the U.S. southern border in San Ysidro, California on Monday, February 3
‘U.S. Army Recruiting Command is on track to exceed the fiscal year 2025 recruitment goal of 61,000 new Soldiers and an additional 10,000 in the Delayed Entry Program,’ Madison Bonzo, U.S. Army Recruiting Command spokeswoman, said in a statement to DailyMail.com.
‘As of today, USAREC has contracted 59 percent of the current FY25 goal,’ the command added.
‘Our success couldn’t be possible without the hard work of our Recruiters, continued transformation of the recruiting enterprise and modernization initiatives to attract qualified talent into America’s most lethal fighting force.’
It came after a massive drop in recruiting figures over the last four years under President Joe Biden.
Thousands were discharged from service under Biden due to their refusal to comply with the COVID-19 vaccine mandate set early on in his single term.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said during her briefing on Wednesday it was a ‘national security risk that our military branches are not fully staffed to where they need to be.’
‘When young men and women who are honorably signing up to serve in our nation’s military see someone like Pete Hegseth, the new Secretary of Defense, who is a proven war fighter… that’s very inspiring,’ Leavitt told reporters of the latest figures.
‘And we look forward to seeing those recruitment numbers and retention numbers skyrocketing over the next four years,’ she added.
‘I know Pete Hegseth is committed to increasing recruitment at all branches of the Military.’
The Army said it recruited 346 soldiers every day in December, meaning that approximately 10,700 were added to the roster in the month after Donald Trump was reelected president
Hegseth reposted to X a tweet from an Alabama-based conservative radio host who wrote: ‘There are several young men from my hometown who were planning to go to college but have now enlisted to serve under Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump!’
‘Our military will be back to full strength by the end of the year thanks to ending DEI and promoting the meritocracy!’ he added.
Right after retaking office, Trump signed an order that would give troops who were discharged for refusing the coronavirus vaccine the chance to be reinstated, restored to their previous rank and provided back pay and benefits that were lost during their time away.
Another executive action sought to rid all agencies, including the Pentagon, of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices that he said were ruining the credibility of government departments.
The recruitment surge comes in the midst of those orders and as Trump took back over as Commander-in-Chief and bringing on Hegseth, an Army veteran, to lead the Pentagon.
