Mary Trump mocks Trump's Vietnam boast: 'Maybe he should have just served'

President Donald Trump on Tuesday boasted that he "would have won Vietnam very quickly" had he been president at the time. In an interview on CNBC's 'Squawk Box', Trump compared the ongoing Iran war to the most prominent conflicts in history, claiming he did much better than any other U.S. President in the past. His niece, Mary L. Trump, hit back with a sharp swipe, asking why he did not serve in the Vietnam War, as he was of drafting age at the time. 

The President joined CNBC’s Squawk Box by phone, where he spoke for over 30 minutes. While talking about his pick for Fed Chair, Kevin Warsh, and interest rates, Trump digressed into talking about oil prices and the Iran war before boasting how well he would have done to end past wars. "I just looked at a little chart, World War One, four years and three months. World War II lasted six years. Korean War, three years. Vietnam, 19 years. Iraq, eight years. I’m five months old. Okay, five months. I would have won Vietnam very quickly," he said. He further said he would have ended the Iran war at the same time before claiming the U.S. had already won the Iran war.

Reacting to his comments, Mary Trump wrote on X, "Donald says we would have won the Vietnam War if he'd been president. Maybe he should have just served." The question finds validity as the Vietnam War ran from 1955 to 1975, and the U.S. sent combat troops in 1965 under President Lyndon Johnson. Donald Trump, born in 1946, was of drafting age during the war, but he received five deferments to avoid joining the army, according to The Independent.

Four of Trump's deferments were for college during his time as an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania, and when he became eligible to be drafted into mandatory military service, he obtained a medical deferment to avoid it. According to the New York Times, Trump presented a letter from a Queens-based podiatrist, which stated he had bone spurs in both his heels, making him unfit for service. The publication reported that the doctor was one of Trump's father's tenants at the time, and later, the daughter of the podiatrist alleged that her father had given the letter as a favor. Despite the facts, the President went on to boast about his military prowess, claiming the U.S. "took over" Venezuela in 45 minutes under his command, but the Democrats won't ever be happy. 

Meanwhile, Trump on Tuesday announced that the U.S. was indefinitely extending the ceasefire in Iran to allow further peace talks. In a statement on Truth Social, the President claimed the Pakistani mediators had requested him to hold the "attack on Iran" until their leaders and representatives come up with a unified proposal. However, Trump didn't mention whether Israel would also commit to the extension and stop its military campaign in Lebanon. According to Reuters, there was no concrete reaction to the comments from the Iranian leadership, but Trump's comments were treated with skepticism.