A record number of applicants are seeking jobs in federal law enforcement and border security under the Trump administration, as recruitment for the U.S. military soars as well under President Donald Trump.
According to The Center Square, U.S. Border Patrol received 34,650 applications during the first four months of the administration—a 44% increase compared to the same period in 2024. Under Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks, Texas’ first border czar, the first quarter of 2025 is being hailed as “the most successful four-month recruitment stretch in the agency’s history.”
The U.S. Coast Guard has also experienced a surge in applications after consistently missing recruitment targets throughout the Biden administration.
Since January, the Coast Guard is on pace to exceed its recruitment goals by 110%, according to the Department of Homeland Security. So far this fiscal year, the agency has already enlisted more than 4,700 new members. Under President Trump, the Coast Guard has increased its focus on border security and is seizing record quantities of illicit drugs, The Center Square reported.
The U.S. Department of Defense is also experiencing a surge in recruitment. After missing its targets every year under the Biden administration, all five branches of the military met their recruiting goals in February 2025.
During a cabinet meeting on April 30, 2025, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described the trend as a “recruiting renaissance,” the outlet’s report noted. “It’s been decades since we’ve seen this kind of recruiting in the Army, the Navy, the Marine Corps and the Air Force,” he said. “We can barely absorb the volume and retention [is also up] – men and women in the military don’t want to get out.”
The surge followed the Trump administration’s announcement that it would eliminate so-called diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) hiring practices and related policies. The Department of Defense also offered reinstatement to service members who had been discharged after their religious accommodation requests were denied under the previous COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Additionally, the DOD initiated voluntary separation for approximately 1,000 service members diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
“Everything starts and ends with warriors, from training to the battlefield,” Hegseth said. “We are leaving wokeness and weakness behind. No more pronouns. No more climate change obsession. No more emergency vaccine mandates. No more dudes in dresses.”
The Trump administration is seeing a significant surge in applications to join the United States Secret Service (USSS). “From January 20, 2025, to May 1, 2025, the USSS received over 22,000 applications,” the Department of Homeland Security reported—a 200% increase compared to the same period last year, when just 7,000 people applied.
The spike is attributed in part to the administration’s decision to eliminate DEI hiring practices and related policies, according to DHS.
