President Donald Trump on Wednesday highlighted U.S. Army recruitment numbers, emphasizing that December’s data marked the best performance in 15 years.

The U.S. military has faced challenges meeting recruitment quotas in recent years, but the Army succeeded in meeting its quota for fiscal year 2024. However, some have suggested that a relatively low target may have played a role in this success.

Recruitment figures for the first quarter of fiscal year 2025, which began in October, show signs of improvement, however, since his election and the appointment of war vet and former Fox News host Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense.

“I want to share some very exciting news from our military. After years of shrinking force numbers at levels that nobody has ever seen before – 4 years of this we went through and missed recruiting targets every single month – it was just announced that in December, the U.S. Army had its single best recruitment in more than 15 years,” Trump told a cheering crowd at the White House.

“Every single day, nearly 350 new soldiers enlisted to defend our nation. And they’re very, very happy to have done so. We’ve done lots of interviews and 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,” Trump added.

Hegseth shared the increasing recruitment numbers on social media on Monday, attributing them to Trump’s election and the president’s focus on prioritizing merit and military effectiveness.

“BOTTOM LINE: America’s youth want to serve under the bold & strong ‘America First’ leadership of @realDonaldTrump,” Hegseth posted.

Recruitment numbers saw a significant increase in the first quarter of fiscal year 2025. Former Army Secretary Christine Wormuth, who served under former President Joe Biden, stated last month that the Army is on track to enlist 81,000 new recruits, including 20,000 enrolled in a delayed entry program for fiscal year 2026, the Daily Wire reported.