President Donald Trump on Tuesday (February 18, 2025) signed an government order meant to expand entry to and scale back prices of in vitro fertilization and issued a Presidential memorandum calling for “radical transparency requirements” from the government, which he instructed may scale back wasteful spending.
On the marketing campaign path, Mr. Trump known as for common protection of IVF therapy after his Supreme Court nominees helped to overturn Roe v. Wade, main to a wave of restrictions within the Republican-led States, together with some which have threatened entry to IVF by making an attempt to outline life as starting at conception.
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Mr. Trump, who was at his Florida residence and membership Mar-a-Lago, additionally signed one other government order in addition to a presidential memorandum. The second government order outlined the oversight capabilities of the Office of Management and Budget, whereas the memo requires the government to element the “waste, fraud and abuse” that’s discovered because the Department of Government Efficiency, overseen by Elon Musk, appears to be like to reduce government spending.
DOGE has typically fallen wanting the administration’s guarantees of transparency. Mr. Musk has taken questions from journalists solely as soon as since changing into Trump’s strongest adviser, and he’s claimed it’s unlawful to title people who find themselves working for him. Sometimes DOGE workers members have demanded entry to delicate government databases with little rationalization.
Mr. Trump took greater than half-hour of questions Tuesday (February 18, 2025) on a spread of matters and bashed the Biden administration all through, highlighting points comparable to its dealing with of the U.S.-Mexico border, Venezuela coverage and Russia’s warfare in Ukraine.
Mr. Trump stated he thought he had a “good chance” to finish Russia’s warfare in Ukraine however bristled at recommendations that the U.S. and Russia had begun negotiations to finish combating with out Ukraine taking part in a task. He even appeared to recommend that Ukraine was to blame for a warfare that started solely after Russia invaded that nation.
“Today I heard, ‘Well, we weren’t invited.’ Well, you’ve been there for three years,” Mr. Trump stated of Ukraine’s leaders. “You should have never started it.”
In anticipation of questions on his administration’s efforts to slash federal spending, the president stated he wrote down examples of government applications all over the world which he then listed off at size. They included funding to promote voter turnout in India and social cohesion initiatives in Mali — all of which Trump instructed collectively amounted to fraud.
Asked in regards to the White House’s arguing in a courtroom submitting that Musk wasn’t the top of Mr. Trump’s government effectivity efforts, Mr. Trump stated, “You could call him an employee, you could call him a consultant, you could call him whatever you want. But he’s a patriot.”
Mr. Trump stated he thinks “women and families, husbands, are very appreciative” of his government order on IVF, which gives a attainable answer when a lady has hassle getting pregnant. The process includes retrieving her eggs and combining them in a lab dish with a person’s sperm to create a fertilized embryo, which is then transferred into the girl’s uterus in an try to create a being pregnant. IVF is finished in cycles, and multiple could also be required.
Barbara Collura, president and CEO of RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association, stated that what the White House put out “looks extremely promising.”
“The biggest barriers for people to building their families are the out-of-pocket costs, the lack of insurance coverage for this care,” she stated.
Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat, stated, “Donald Trump’s executive order does nothing to expand access to IVF. In fact, he’s the reason IVF is at risk in the first place.”
Mr. Duckworth stated if Mr. Trump goes to observe by on his marketing campaign promise to present free IVF, he can begin by supporting her laws that might require insurance coverage to cowl IVF.
Mr. Trump, who spent the morning at his golf membership in West Palm Beach, Florida, spoke to reporters hours earlier than his first joint TV interview with Mr. Musk airs in prime time on Fox News.
Mr. Musk has drawn criticism from Democrats in Congress and others for the strategies he and his staff at DOGE are utilizing to reduce spending, together with overseas assist, and remove jobs throughout the forms.
The Fox News interview additionally follows Musk’s look with Trump within the Oval Office final week, when each defended Musk’s strategy to federal cost-cutting.
Mar-a-Lago was the setting Tuesday night time for an awards program by America’s Future, a conservative group led by Mike Flynn, who briefly served as nationwide safety adviser within the Republican president’s first time period. The program goals to protect particular person rights and promote American values and traditions, in accordance to its web site. The occasion, celebrating American exceptionalism, honored one member every from the Army, the Navy, the Marines, the Air Force and the Space Force.
The occasion included a poolside reception, musical performances and dinner in Mar-a-Lago’s Grand Ballroom. The lineup included such names as Russell Brand, Ted Nugent and Mike Tyson.
Mr. Trump made an look on the occasion, in accordance to video posted on social media Tuesday night time, addressing the group on the patio as he stood close to Tyson, Flynn and Nugent and declaring, “This is very, very friendly territory.”
Mr. Trump praised the boys, together with Flynn, who was one of many main proponents of Mr. Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The president known as him “the real deal” and indicated he needed to deliver Flynn into his administration, saying he provided him “about 10 jobs.”
“Anytime you want to come in, you know that, Mike, OK?” Trump said.
Mr. Flynn resigned from the first Trump administration less than a month after Mr. Trump’s inauguration. He was charged in 2017 with lying to the FBI about conservations he had with the Russians on Trump’s behalf. He twice pleaded guilty, but Trump pardoned him in the final weeks of his presidency.
Published – February 19, 2025 08:13 am IST
