President Donald Trump revealed that the military saw an uptick in recruitment figures after his election and inauguration, a significant shift from the recruitment crisis of the past several years.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had shared on Tuesday that December was the best month for Army recruitment in twelve years, while January was the best month for the branch in fifteen years, a trend that he attributed to Trump and his “bold and strong America First leadership.”

Trump confirmed on Wednesday during a signing ceremony for an executive order on female sports leagues that “every single day, nearly 350 new soldiers enlist to defend our nation.”

“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,” Trump added.

The increased recruitment statistics were unveiled days after Trump signed an executive order which offered reinstatement, along with full rank and back pay, to the service members forced out of the military for refusing to take the COVID vaccine. The executive action noted that the Defense Department under now-former President Joe Biden mandated that all service members take the COVID vaccine while also denying requests for religious and medical accommodations.

“The vaccine mandate was an unfair, overbroad, and completely unnecessary burden on our service members,” the executive order from Trump remarked. “Further, the military unjustly discharged those who refused the vaccine, regardless of the years of service given to our nation, after failing to grant many of them an exemption that they should have received.”

Many have contended that the COVID vaccine mandate contributed to decreased recruitment in recent years, alongside leftist ideology in the military and the failed withdrawal from Afghanistan.