Donald Trump is one of the most controversial people to ever be placed in the public eye. From his time as President of the United States to his rants on Twitter, it always seems as though he is always able to find a way to make his way into the headlines and be talked about in the media.
But even as a kid, Donald Trump was known for breaking the rules and not having much focus. When his parents finally had enough of this they sent him off to military school. However, based on his former classmates' tales, going to military school didn't whip young Donald's behavior into shape.
Donald's Parents Sent Him To Military School Due To A Lack Of Discipline And Focus
Prior to joining the military school, at Trump's previous school, it's pretty safe to say that his behavior was less than satisfactory. Along with his friends, Trump would often get into trouble, and from the sounds of it, he was often the ringleader in these scenarios.
According to one of his old school friends, they would talk in class when they weren't supposed to, pass notes around the class, throw spitballs at their other classmates, and they would even eat whole oranges with the skin still on during football games to try and throw the other team off their game, so they would become intimidated by them.
It was this behavior that often saw him in detention. In fact, Trump spent so much of his time in school in detention that his classmates often called detention "a DT," otherwise known as "a Donny Trump."
After this constant string of poor behavior, his parents had finally had enough and decided that in order to try and get him back in line that they would send him off to military school, in the hope that the military teachings would put some discipline back into Trump.
Donald Trump Went To The New York Military Academy
As he was born and raised in New York, it only made sense for Trump to be sent to a military school in the same state. Whether this was so his parents could still keep somewhat of an eye on him or because they felt this would be the best school for him is unknown.
Trump's former teacher Col. Ted Dobias has said that when Trump first turned up at the academy, he didn't know how to do anything, even some of the most basic stuff like making his bed or shining his shoes.
Despite being in a pretty tough school and around teachers who weren't going to let him get away with anything, there were still plenty of times when Trump would step out of line. However, what he got for stepping out of line in the military academy is unknown.
He also said that this was the best place for children to be sent if they didn't like to follow the rules as they could soon be taught to like them. Therefore, it makes sense why Trump's parents would want to send him there as they had hoped it would give him the discipline to no longer misbehave.
However, not only did it give Trump a sense of discipline, it also taught him how to make his way to the top. Author Gwenda Blair noted that it taught Trump how to get exactly what he wanted from life, which may explain how he made his way in the business and presidential worlds (although sometimes these businesses were unsuccessful).
He was also said to be very competitive whilst at the military academy and that he wanted to be the best at everything. In some cases, this was a good thing as he was very particular about how his uniform looked, however, in other cases, he would take this a bit too far.
For example, they would often take turns to do inspections in the barracks and when one student hadn't made his bed quite right, Trump completely ripped all the sheets off his bed. This caused the student to start attacking Trump, with Trump attacking him back and three people had to pull the boys apart.
It was apparently this air of superiority Trump had that caused him to not have many friends at the academy, as he would constantly want to outdo them — something that many of his classmates didn't like.
Did Donald Trump Ever Serve In The U.S. Military?
Given that he went to a military academy, many would assume that would mean that Trump might have gone on to serve in the military. He didn't and actually avoided the military draft five times during the course of the Vietnam War.
In fact, rather surprisingly and despite his past in the military academy, in 2020 Trump was called out by Reese Witherspoon after referring to fallen US soldiers as "losers" and "suckers."
