President Donald J. Trump
The White House
Fact Sheets

Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Keeps Promises to Our Veterans and Establishes New Center for Homeless Veterans

The White House

KEEPING OUR PROMISE TO OUR VETERANS: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order to provide better care to our veterans, improve accountability for such care, and establish a National Center for Warrior Independence for homeless veterans.

  • The Order directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish the National Center for Warrior Independence on the Veterans Affairs West Los Angeles Campus.
    • Homeless veterans in the Los Angeles metropolitan area and around the nation can avail themselves of this Center to seek and receive the care, benefits, and services to which they are entitled.
    • Funds previously spent on housing or other services for illegal aliens will be redirected to construct, establish, and maintain this Center.
    • The Center will promote self-sufficiency through housing, substance abuse treatment, and support for productive work for the veterans housed there.
    • The goal is to house up to 6,000 homeless veterans at this Center by 2028.
  • The Order directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to use vouchers to support homeless veterans with respect to this effort.
  • It instructs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to restore accountability at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). This includes taking action against individuals who have committed misconduct and investigating and rectifying the previous administration’s decision to rehire and reinstate back pay for employees previously fired for misconduct.
  • The Order ensures that veterans will have access to increased options for care, benefits, and services.
    • This includes reduced wait times for Veterans Health Administration appointments through options such as expanded hours, weekend appointments, and virtual healthcare. 
    • It orders a feasibility study at the Manchester VA Medical Center to expand services to support a full-service medical center in New Hampshire.

TREATING VETERANS LIKE THE HEROES THEY ARE: President Trump strongly believes that every veteran deserves our gratitude, and that the federal government should treat veterans like the heroes they are.  

  • Previous administrations have failed veterans by allowing the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Center—hundreds of acres in Los Angeles given to the Federal Government more than a century ago to help veterans—to fall apart.
    • Parts of the property are leased to a private school, private companies, and the baseball team of the University of California, Los Angeles—sometimes at rock-bottom prices.
  • Los Angeles has approximately 3,000 homeless veterans—more than any other city in the country and accounting for about 10% of all homeless veterans in America.
  • Many of these heroes live in squalor in Los Angeles’s infamous “skid row.”
  • The new National Center for Warrior Independence will help them and other veterans like them rebuild their lives.

CONTINUING A RECORD OF REFORM: This Executive Order builds on the historic reforms and achievements of President Trump’s first term, which transformed the Department of Veterans Affairs and expanded care and opportunities for our nation’s heroes.

  • During President Trump’s first term, he signed legislation to increase accountability and expand benefits and choices for veterans in accessing care.
  • He also signed legislation to remove thousands of VA workers who failed to give our vets the care they so richly deserve.
  • President Trump improved the efficiency of the VA and modernized medical records.
  • President Trump signed and implemented the Forever GI bill, allowing veterans to use their benefits to get an education at any point in their lives.
  • He eliminated every penny of federal student loan debt owed by American veterans who are completely and permanently disabled.