President Trump Participates in a Signing Ceremony, Jan. 14, 2026

Okay. Hello everybody. Thank you very much. You see that beautiful milk? That's what we're here for. We're going to be discussing milk and whole milk and how good it is and how nourishing, and these people all come from beautiful farms, have a wonderful life, and they're happier today than they would have been if we didn't sign this. So we'll be talking about that in a second. Will, could you read the first two items and we're going to get going after that. We'll be talking about a couple of things. We have some news on Iran which we're going to talk about.

Shortly before you all came in, the President signed two executive actions. The first is the result of a Section 232 trade investigation into critical minerals supplies. What it does is it sets up a mechanism, a process by which the United States will seek to secure its international supply chain of critical minerals and critical mineral derived products. The second is actually the result of another Section 232 trade investigation, this one into semiconductors. It sets up a two-phase process. Under the first phase, semiconductors that are imported into the United States of America that are not then used domestically to build out AI or computing architecture here will be subject to a 25% tariff. So, for example, semiconductors that were transshipped through the United States to other foreign countries would be subject to that 25% tariff. But those are two executive actions that the President reviewed shortly before you all came in.

So they're going to sell chips basically, and it's a chip that's not the highest level, but it's a very good level and China wants them and other people want them and we're going to be making 25% on the sale of those chips basically. So we're allowing them to do it, but the United States is getting 25% of the chips in terms of the dollar value and I think it's a very good deal, great deal. We're taking in billions of dollars and they are, they've done a fantastic job. But it's not the Blackwell or the Rubin, those are the two top, but it's a very good chip and people want it and we think it's in our best interest to do. And we have some other little things to talk about, maybe we'll start that first. Should I start that first? I think they're going to want me to, I have a feeling they're going to want me to. We have been notified and in pretty strongly, but we'll find out what that all means. But we've been told that the killing in Iran is stopping. It's stopped. It's stopping. And there's no plan for executions or an execution or executions. So I've been told on good authority, we'll find out about it. I'm sure if it happens, we'll all be very upset, including you will be very upset. But that's just gotten to me, some information that the killing has stopped, that the executions have stopped and they're not going to have an execution, which a lot of people were talking about for the last couple of days. Today was going to be the day of execution. And another piece of information that I think is very important is the leaker has been found and is in jail right now. And that's the leaker on Venezuela, had a very bad leaker. So there could be some others, we'll let you know about that. We're hot on their trail. But the leaker has been found and the leaker's in jail and will probably be in jail for a long time. Let's see what happens. So we'll let you know, we'll keep you apprised as to what's going to happen with that. Now I want to thank all of the incredible people behind me, political people, both Republicans and Democrats, because they like whole milk. Whether you're a Democrat or a Republican, whole milk is, right? It's a great thing. The Senator was in the office many years ago. It feels like many years ago, but quite a while ago, right at the beginning of my first term, Elijah Cummings. Right, with Elijah. Very good person. You and I had a good relationship with him. At that time, I think you were a Congressman and you've, you've made a lot of progress. You've done very well.

Some would disagree.

I don't disagree. I think you, I think you've done a great job. But it's great, it's great to have you here again. We appreciate it. So today, I'm delighted to sign the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act into law, which is a very important thing for our farmers and I think more important for our people, right? The people that drink milk. This is the first bill signing of the new year and it will ensure that millions of school-age children have access to high-quality milk as we make America healthy again. I want to thank Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, who's behind me, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Senators John Boozman and Mike Crapo, Roger Marshall, Peter Welch, as well as Representative GT Thompson and Tim Walberg, all great people. Also with us today is USDA National Nutrition Advisor Dr. Ben Carson, my friend for a long time. We went head-to-head and it was not easy going head-to-head with Ben. He was very bad to me. He still looks good. That's because he drinks a lot of milk. And some of our nation's wonderful dairy farmers and their children, they're going to be farmers for a long time we hope. As it currently stands, schools participating in the national school lunch program are only able to offer students low or non-fat milk options. That was changed during the Obama administration and a lot of people disagreed with it at the time. With this legislation, schools will finally be able to expand their offerings to include nutritious whole milk. That's actually a legal definition, whole milk. And it's whole with a W, for those of you that have a problem. Most of the media will get that. This is the perfect follow-up to the new Real Food Pyramid that Secretary Kennedy and Secretary Rollins announced last week, you probably heard. This legislation also allows parents to directly request a substitute for milk for children with dairy intolerance. Previously, parents were required to submit a written statement from a doctor, but we're eliminating that rather ridiculous policy and allowing parents to choose what is best for their child, which is a big move. Hard to believe that that would be a big thing, but it is. And of course, these changes will be major victories for the American dairy farmers, who we love and who voted for me in great numbers I will say. I think I got every one of them. I think. In December, I also signed the Secure Rural Schools Authorization Reauthorization Act and I'm proud to say that these two pieces of legislation will give school-age children across the country the resources and support that they need not just to succeed, but really to thrive in life and later on in life. So I want to ask Secretary Rollins to say a few things and then I'd like to ask Secretary Kennedy and Dr. Carson and I'd also like to hear from these great political leaders, Senators, Congressmen if they'd like to say something. I'd be honored. So, Brooke, do you want to start?

Yes, sir. Thank you and what a joy and an honor it is to be here. I feel like I have the best job in the world with representing all of these farmers and Mr. President, not in our lifetime has a president been a president who loves and supports our farmers more and certainly the dairy farmers. I want to thank all of our farmers here today, sir. Most of them are fifth and sixth generation. They represent states from all across our country and bringing the children too and seeing what the next generation of dairy farmers looks like. The amazing thing is some of these farmers back here from Butler, Pennsylvania...

Where?

Butler, Pennsylvania.

I love Butler. I do.

They, and they love you. They love you. But he milks about 40 to 60 cows and then we have Jamie from Wisconsin who milks about 5,000 cows. So they represent all across the spectrum and what this means. And I think it's important to note that in the last year, your support for these American farmers, for rural America, the One Big Beautiful Bill was the largest investment in rural America in history. I think that's important to note. The trade, and I see my friend Jameson Greer over there and Howard Lutnick on this end, we've opened up more than 24 different markets. Milk exports, dairy exports are up 23% just in the last year. And when you think about the Ag deficit that happened under Joe Biden and the four years we went from a surplus of agriculture products when we left the first time to a 50 billion dollar deficit when we came back. So these are massive, massive wins for America and I think it's important to note that. I also want to note, and you said it as well, that over a decade ago Michelle Obama in this very room made an announcement on a short-sighted campaign to ditch the whole milk in schools and that's what we're working to fix today. Last week, Bobby Kennedy and Ben Carson and Dr. Oz and the whole crew, sir, announced the dietary guidelines for Americans 2025 to 2030, which also reintroduced full-fat dairy into a healthy diet. And today, by signing this bill, Senator Marshall and Congressman Thompson and and both, all the wonderful men to the right who worked so hard on this, Peter Welch, it is a bipartisan issue and understanding where we are in this country and how important the health of certainly our children are is so important. USDA is posting today the guidance. So we're signing the bill and USDA, we're moving at Trump time, is posting today the new rulemaking that is necessary to get whole milk back into school lunches. So that's a really, really big deal too.

So how long will that take?

It should just take a few weeks and then the milk starts moving in. So it's a, it's a big announcement, sir, for our schools and our children. And I know Secretary Kennedy will talk a little bit about the health issue so I won't do that, I'll skip over that. You mentioned, and the last thing I'll say, I know we're here to sign the bill on whole milk, but Senator Crapo's work and our wonderful friend Doug LaMalfa, who we lost way too soon, their work on Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act, how important that too is for rural America. 700 eligible rural counties across the nation are now guaranteed funds for schools and roads and infrastructure. So sir, you say it all the time, those are your people. They voted for you and with us and saw your vision from the beginning. This is who we're here to support today, in addition to the whole milk for healthy schools which will help all children. Just remember eat real food, eat real food and drink whole milk. What a joy again it is to be here and I especially want to thank all of our incredible farmers for what you do. So sir with that, I'll turn it over to Secretary Kennedy.

And just before you do that, how are we doing with food prices, bringing them down?

Yes sir, well I'm glad you asked because I brought a chart and it just happened to be right behind me. So speaking of milk, milk is actually way down and we're here to talk about that today, obviously.

It's 44%.

That's right sir, 44% down. Milk, eggs is way down, milk is way down. This is just since we took office, sir. Fresh whole chicken down 2%, cheese down, tomatoes down, butter down. Of course eggs are way down, potatoes down almost 3%, fresh fruits down almost 3%. But this is just the beginning. And as we continue to bring the cost of farming down, bring the cost of inputs down, open up the markets, support our farmers, we'll see even more affordability moving forward.

And eggs are down 31%, so it's really something. Where's Bobby?

Bobby's right here.

Bobby's behind. Go ahead. Go ahead. Good to see you. We like Bobby.

I want to echo what Brooke said about finally having a President that sees the alignment between farm prosperity, good food policy and the health of our children. These are common sense associations. Democrats been talking about them for eons, Republicans been talking about them. We finally have a President who is implementing these policies getting real food to our children. Today President Trump signs the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2025, a long overdue correction to the school nutrition policy that puts children's health first. For years Washington treated fat, especially saturated fat, as the enemy. It made a war on saturated fat. This is the peacetime President. He's made eight and a half deals ending wars and he's also ended the war on saturated fat. As a result, whole and 2% milk disappeared from school menus even though science has never shown that whole milk harms children. Evidence increasingly shows the opposite. The panoply of nutrients in whole milk is critical to brain development and physical development in our children. Whole and 2% milk provide 13 essential ingredients critical for growth, development, immune system function and overall health including protein, calcium, vitamin D and healthy fats. Yet since these milk options were removed more than a decade ago, school milk consumption and meal participation have declined dramatically. Today between 68% and 94% of school-age boys and girls fail to meet recommended dairy intake according to federal guidelines. When schools limit milk choices the kids do not move to healthier substitutes. They move to caffeinated drinks, to sugar drinks and to sweetened beverages with little or no nutritional value and the potential to wreak havoc on metabolic health, which is driving the chronic disease epidemic in our country. During the same period that whole milk was regulated out of lunchroom, rates of childhood obesity and diabetes rose significantly. Removing whole milk did not improve health, it damaged it. Thanks to President Trump's leadership this law fixes that mistake. It allows schools in the National School Lunch Program to offer whole reduced fat, low-fat or fat-free, flavored or unflavored, organic or conventional. It restores choice to schools, parents and the students and encourages consumption of nutrient-dense foods that kids will actually drink. The law also removes unnecessary bureaucracy by allowing parents or legal guardian guardians to request milk substitutes without the necessity of involving a doctor. And it corrects a flawed technical rule by excluding fluid milk from saturated fat calculations that distorted school menus. Milk fat is not junk food. Treating it that way undermined nutrition and ignored the science. Last week, Secretary Rollins and I unveiled President Trump's new food pyramid and updated our dietary guidelines with the clear message: eat real food. This law puts that principle into action. As Secretary of Health and Human Services, I support this reform because it aligns federal policy with evidence-based nutrition, not ideology or dogma. Healthy kids need real food. They need real protein. They need healthy fats and they need policies grounded in reality and the science. I want to thank President Trump again for his vision, for signing this bill, for continuing to put children's health first. This is exactly the kind of practical change that will make America healthy again.

Thank you, Bobby. Thank you, Bobby. We have some milk here. It's been sitting here for five days, so it's from the original bottle and I brought it so that the press can have some, you can swig it all out of the bottle. Remember the old days when we were kids everybody shared a bottle? Today we tend not to do that, but if you'd like to, if you trust the person that you're drinking after, it's right here. It's yours, okay? It's semi-fresh. Five, six days old. Thank you. So, Ben Carson, a special man, knows a lot about health. He looks better than ever. So, Ben, how about it?

Well, thank you, Mr. President. Thank you for being interested in the health of the people. It's made a big difference, facilitating an atmosphere where the agencies can work together. You know, Secretary Rollins, Secretary Kennedy, Marty Makary, Dr. Oz, the whole group every week at least meeting once to talk about these things and it's made a big difference. And I want to thank the dairy farmers. I know you guys have been in the doghouse for a little while. You're out of the doghouse as of today. And, you know, whole milk is a wonderful beverage. Good protein, we talk about real food, it is real food, healthy fats, important nutrients. You look at vitamin D, you look at calcium, phosphorus, the things that are absolutely essential for bone development and for teeth. But as a neurosurgeon, the thing I really like is what the brain, what it does for the brain. You know, the brain starts to develop right after conception and adds millions of neurons every single day. Continue to do that right up until the mid to late 20s. Now, it's important what that brain is getting during that development. Is it getting soda or is it getting milk?

So milk would help your cognitive ability?

Absolutely. You can tell who's been drinking milk.

I've taken cognitive tests, I've taken a lot of them, I've aced every one of them because I drink milk.

It's good for and it shows.

Do you consider there to be a big difference in taste between what you are having and... this just... it just looks so good sitting there, right? It looks better. It tastes thick. Go ahead, Ben, sorry to interrupt you.

No, when you go into the school and you give the kids milk, real milk, they love it. When you pour this stuff that looks like, you know, dishpan water, they don't particularly want that. It doesn't taste good either. So, this is a great day. It's only a part of what's happening with our emphasis on health. You know, our longevity has been going down and other industrialized nations it's been going up. It's because we haven't been paying attention to this. That has changed and we want to thank you for your leadership.

Well, thank you very much, Ben. Appreciate it. Appreciate all you've done too for the country. I'd like to ask a few of our Senators to say a couple of words. Maybe we should start with the Democrat in our midst. What do you think of that, Peter? Peter Welch. And thank you very much for being here, Peter.

No, thank you. You know, our dairy farmers are so vitally important and they have a way of life that transmits from one generation to another and it's tougher than ever for our dairy farmers in Vermont, our dairy farmers in Pennsylvania and others. South Carolina are here. But they're the lifeblood of the community. Nobody works harder and nobody does things that are better for our nutrition and also for our kids. I'm in agreement. Kids having access to healthy milk is really good milk, whole milk, is really good for them. And one of the things that I get very excited about that really the Vermont farmers talk about is they have their milk from their farm that then goes directly to many of our schools. And then kids come out to the farms and start seeing how milk is made, what farming is about. That's good for America. It's not a party deal. This has been a bipartisan effort. I appreciate work with my colleague, Senator Marshall, who did a great job and GT when I was in the House and Tim. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President.

It's got to be like a 90-10 issue, another one of those 90-10 issues. It's good to have you on our side. But it's a great, it's a great issue and it's a great thing to do and we're very proud of it. We're very proud of our farmers. Senator, do you want to say a few words?

Sure, I'll be very brief. We all want to see you sign this bill. But I really appreciate you and Brooke bringing up the Secure Rural Schools legislation. This is critical legislation to our rural communities across this country and we have to fight every couple of years to get it extended just a couple of years. And this extension we got this year went back to pick up a few years that we missed and it's going to expire again at the end of the next year. And Mr. President and Secretary, I'm going to encourage us to get back in here to sign a healthy a Secure Rural Schools bill that is permanent. I want to set a goal or hope that you'll set a goal with me to get that done. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Crapo. Anybody? Roger?

Yeah, Mr. President, thank you so much for for having us here on behalf of Kansas dairy farmers, thank you. Milk is the most wholesome, nutritious drink known to humankind. Not only is it full of essential nutrients, it's full of healthy fats as well as as protein. As Dr. Carson pointed out, those healthy fats are what helps that brain develop and help you absorb the fat-soluble vitamins. The protein is why you drink milk and you're not hungry again in 30 minutes. And I have to point out that under the previous couple administrations ago, thanks to them, we have a whole generation of young adults who have osteopenia and osteoporosis because they never drank milk for an entire generation. So getting milk back in the schools is going to give us healthy bones and healthy minds. It sticks to your ribs and it tastes great. Thanks for your leadership.

Thank you very much. Anybody else politically first, then we're going to go to the farmers? Yes, please.

Mr. President, thank you so much. I want to ask Dr. Carson if there's an age limit on the cognitive ability... I'd be drinking a whole lot more of your milk. But thank you so much. We literally have legislature here, legislators here that have worked on this for years. This is something that's been very, very difficult.

You would think it would have been very easy, actually.

Exactly, but you were able to help us get it over the finish line. You and your great team, Brooke, and all of these these people that have done such a good job. Not only with this issue, but all that we're doing for the farm community, which is so, so very important. So thank you very, very much and I know that you're going to continue to support farmers like you have since you were elected.

We do, right from the beginning. Thank you very much. Go ahead.

Mr. President, GT Thompson, Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. I have been working on this bill for 15 years.

That's amazing.

Because of your support and your leadership, we were able to get this across the line.

It's such a shame that it would be so hard.

Common sense was was lost. And in the the benefits today go to those precious children that we see over there. It goes to our dairy farm families who work so hard seven days a week. There's no day off for a dairy farmer. And quite frankly, our rural communities who when the misguided moved to take whole milk and 2% milk and flavor out of the schools, we lost a generation, probably two generations of milk drinkers and it devastated those rural communities because you lose the dairy farms then you lose all the supplies businesses and then you lose grocery stores and you use community pharmacies. Well that day ends today with your signature and we reverse that trend and we build a robust rural economy and I'll just close with what will be the theme of my next bumper sticker. Whole milk heals.

Amen. That's right. That's what they say. I think it's probably true. Anybody else? Politically?

Well Mr. President, Chairman of Education Workforce Committee, this fits, you know, with the kids, with what they they can enjoy in school and grow from. Also to have GT Thompson, the sponsor of the bill, on that committee and I think I've worked with you for 15 years, but we finally got it done in committee. This makes an impact for education, for our workforce, the health that's there and the reality of what this farming industry does. I live in the most diverse farm district in Michigan. Thanks for coming to Michigan yesterday.

It was great.

It was great. And my kids were raised on, it's legal now, raw milk, taken right out of the bulk tank. And my oldest son became a Pulitzer-nominated journalist for the Chicago Tribune.

Ah!

And I think the milk did it, right?