As the first American troops died in Donald Trump’s war with Iran, #SendBarron began trending nationwide—and a South Park writer had a website ready and waiting.
Three U.S. service members were killed and five others seriously wounded on Sunday as Operation “Epic Fury,” the U.S.-Israeli assault on Iran that launched Saturday, moved into its second day.
The latest bombing campaign on a foreign country by the self-styled “Peace President” has seen Trump blasted for his seeming indifference towards U.S. soldiers who have been killed in the process.
It has also prompted a wave of Americans to ask a pointed question—if this is such a noble war, why isn’t the president’s youngest son joining in?
Into that gap stepped Toby Morton, a comedian and former writer on South Park who, Variety notes, runs roughly 50 political parody sites, and has previously snagged domains including those of the Trump-Kennedy Center, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Moms for Liberty.
Morton spent two years on South Park’s writing staff from 2001 and later joined Mad TV in 2006, before billing himself as a “Creator of Anti-Fascist Websites.”
His latest creation—DraftBarronTrump.com—went up as U.S. fatalities began to be announced.
The site opens with mock-heroic Trumpian pomp: “America is strong because its leaders are strong. President Trump proves that every day. Naturally, his son Barron is more than ready to defend the country his father so boldly commands. Service is honor. Strength is inherited.”
It finishes with the flourish: “Dog Bless Barron.”
It also features a series of satirical, absurdist fake quotes attributed to the president and his other sons, Donald Jr. and Eric.
The site has “Donald J. Trump” solemnly declaring that people come to him “with tears in their eyes” begging him to send his 6-foot-7-inch, 19-year-old boy off to war.
“Trump Jr.” is quoted as saying: “This moment is really about Barron, okay? Always has been. He represents strength, courage, and service. I’ll be honoring that sacrifice in my own way, mainly by talking about it from a safe distance.”
“Eric Trump” muses incoherently about pancakes.
At the same time, the hashtag #SendBarron trended across the United States as news broke about the first American casualties of the Iran conflict.
Thousands of social media users were demanding that the first son—who lives at the White House while attending New York University’s Washington, D.C. campus—be called up to serve alongside the soldiers his father sent into battle.
There is, here, a family tradition at play. The president himself received five deferments to avoid serving in Vietnam—four for education, and a fifth medical deferment, after a physical examination found he had bone spurs in both heels.
Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, testified that when he asked for medical records to substantiate the bone-spur claim, Trump gave him none and said there was no surgery.
Despite the supposedly short-term nature of the condition, Trump was formally deemed unfit for military service—classified 4-F—by 1972. The daughters of the Queens podiatrist who signed the original diagnosis later told reporters their father provided it as a favor to Fred Trump.
Barron has given no public indication that military service is on his radar, as he appears to be quite the homebody.
The NYU sophomore spent New Year’s Eve standing between his parents at Mar-a-Lago’s black-tie gala, looking profoundly uncomfortable—a rare public sighting for the famously camera-shy youth, who has no social media presence and reportedly keeps to himself on campus.
When he does make the news, it tends to be for reasons entirely unrelated to geopolitics. Earlier this year, Barron emerged as a surprise witness in a London rape and assault trial.
He had dialed British emergency services in the early hours of Jan. 18, 2025, to report witnessing a woman he knew being attacked over FaceTime. The woman later testified that Barron had “helped save my life.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House and Toby Morton for comment.
