Politics

The Division of Authorities Effectivity has usually fallen wanting the administration’s guarantees of transparency.

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE and MICHELLE L. PRICE, Related Press

February 19, 2025 | 8:09 AM

5 minutes to learn

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an government order meant to develop entry to and cut back prices of in vitro fertilization and issued a presidential memorandum calling for “radical transparency necessities” from the federal government, which he instructed might cut back wasteful spending.

On the marketing campaign path, Trump referred to as for common protection of IVF remedy after his Supreme Court docket nominees helped to overturn Roe v. Wade, resulting in a wave of restrictions in Republican-led states, together with some which have threatened entry to IVF by attempting to outline life as starting at conception.

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 Workplace of Administration and Funds, whereas the memo requires the federal government to element the “waste, fraud and abuse” that’s discovered because the Division of Authorities Effectivity, overseen by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, appears to be like to chop authorities spending.

DOGE has usually fallen wanting the administration’s guarantees of transparency. 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 call people who find themselves working for him. Generally DOGE workers members have demanded entry to delicate authorities databases with little rationalization.

Trump took greater than half-hour of questions Tuesday on a variety of matters and bashed the Biden administration all through, highlighting points reminiscent of its dealing with of the U.S.-Mexico border, Venezuela coverage and Russia’s warfare in Ukraine.

Trump stated he thought he had a “good likelihood” to finish Russia’s warfare in Ukraine however bristled at solutions that the U.S. and Russia had begun negotiations to finish combating with out Ukraine enjoying a job. He even appeared to counsel that Ukraine was responsible for a warfare that started solely after Russia invaded that nation.

“Right now I heard, ‘Nicely, we weren’t invited.’ Nicely, you’ve been there for 3 years,” Trump stated of Ukraine’s leaders. “It is best to have by no means began it.”

In anticipation of questions on his administration’s efforts to slash federal spending, the president stated he wrote down examples of presidency packages all over the world which he then listed off at size. They included funding to advertise voter turnout in India and social cohesion initiatives in Mali — all of which Trump instructed collectively amounted to fraud.

Requested in regards to the White Home’s arguing in a courtroom submitting that Musk wasn’t the top of Trump’s authorities effectivity efforts, Trump stated: “You could possibly name him an worker, you may name him a marketing consultant, you may name him no matter you need. However he’s a patriot.”

Trump stated he thinks “ladies and households, husbands, are very appreciative” of his government order on IVF, which provides a doable resolution when a girl has bother getting pregnant. The process entails retrieving her eggs and mixing 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 and create a being pregnant. IVF is finished in cycles, and multiple could also be required.

Barbara Collura, president and CEO of RESOLVE: The Nationwide Infertility Affiliation, stated that what the White Home put out “appears to be like extraordinarily promising.”

“The largest boundaries for folks to constructing their households are the out-of-pocket prices, the shortage of insurance coverage protection for this care,” she stated.

Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat, stated: “Donald Trump’s government order does nothing to develop entry to IVF. The truth is, he’s the rationale IVF is in danger within the first place.”

Duckworth stated if Trump goes to observe by means of on his marketing campaign promise to offer free IVF, he can begin by supporting her laws that may require insurance policy to cowl IVF.

Trump, who spent the morning at his golf membership in West Palm Seaside, Florida, spoke to reporters hours earlier than his first joint TV interview with Musk aired in prime time on Fox Information Channel. The president acknowledged throughout it that “inflation is again,” however famous that he’d solely been in workplace a number of weeks and insisted “I had nothing to do” with costs that stay stubbornly excessive.

Trump talked about throughout that very same interview that Musk is “most likely not that glad” with issues like tax breaks for electrical autos doubtless not being included in tax laws now being mentioned in Congress, however he stated Musk didn’t search particular remedy for Tesla.

“I haven’t requested the president for something, ever,” Musk added. Requested about potential conflicts of curiosity between Musk’s governmental efforts and his companies and the way they are going to be dealt with, Trump stated, “He gained’t be concerned” and Musk stated he’d recuse himself.

Musk has drawn criticism from Democrats in Congress and others for the strategies he and his group at DOGE are utilizing to chop spending, together with international support, and eradicate jobs throughout the forms.

The joint interview follows Musk’s look with Trump within the Oval Workplace final week, when each defended Musk’s strategy to federal cost-cutting.

Additionally Tuesday evening, an awards program was held at Mar-a-Lago by America’s Future. That’s a conservative group led by Mike Flynn, who briefly served as nationwide safety adviser within the Republican president’s first time period. This system goals to protect particular person rights and promote American values and traditions, based on its web site. The occasion honored one member every from the Military, Navy, Marines, Air Pressure and House Pressure.

The occasion included a poolside reception, musical performances and dinner in Mar-a-Lago’s Grand Ballroom. The lineup included such names as Russell Model, Ted Nugent and Mike Tyson.

Trump made an look on the occasion, based on video posted on social media Tuesday evening, addressing the gang on the patio as he stood close to Tyson, Flynn and Nugent and declaring, “That is very, very pleasant territory.”

Trump praised the boys, together with Flynn, who was one of many main proponents of Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The president referred to as him “the true deal” and indicated he wished to deliver Flynn into his administration, saying he supplied him “about 10 jobs.”

“Anytime you wish to are available in, you recognize that, Mike, OK?” Trump stated.

Flynn resigned from the primary Trump administration lower than a month after Trump’s inauguration. He was charged in 2017 with mendacity to the FBI about conservations he had with the Russians on Trump’s behalf. He twice pleaded responsible, however Trump pardoned him within the last weeks of his presidency.

Worth reported from New York. Related Press writers Will Weissert and Chris Megerian in Washington and Laura Ungar in Louisville, Kentucky, contributed to this report.