Trump says ‘this is an important one for me’ and signs Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act
By SHERRY BUNTING
Special for Farmshine
WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Trump pointed at the gleaming bottle on the Resolute Desk. “You see that beautiful milk? That’s what we’re here for,” he told reporters as the bill signing got underway Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 14, in the White House Oval Office.
It was the first bill signing of 2026, and Trump called it what it was: common sense, long delayed.
As he prepared to sign the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, he shook his head. “Sorry it took so long. Really? It was 15 years? I can’t believe it.”
USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins spoke of the farmers behind him who represented large and small dairy farms, including William Thiele, a dairy farmer from Butler County, Pa.
“We’re moving at Trump time,” Rollins said, announcing USDA posted implementation guidance the same day the Bill was signed so schools could begin moving quickly.
Trump leaned in with a follow-up. “So how long will that take?” Rollins answered directly: “It should just take a few weeks after that, and then whole milk starts moving in.”
The bill reverses restrictions put in place during the Obama administration that limited schools to low-fat and nonfat milk. It also removes a requirement that parents submit a doctor’s note to request a milk substitute for children with dairy intolerance, giving families more direct choice. And it removes the saturated fat calculation on the milk from the meal compliance.
“This is the first bill-signing of the new year, and it’s to ensure that millions of school-age children have access to high-quality milk as we make America healthy again,” Trump said, noting the administration’s recent shift toward real food in the new Dietary Guidelines.
“I want to thank all of the incredible people behind me, both Republicans and Democrats,” Trump said. “Because they like whole milk, whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican, that’s a great thing. It’s good to have you on our side.”
Photo by Rep. GT Thompson of Pa.,
Chairman of the House Ag Committee
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. called the bill a “long overdue correction. For years, Washington treated fat, especially saturated fat, as the enemy,” he said. “This President ended the war on saturated fat.”
He pointed out there were never any studies showing whole milk harmed children, while evidence increasingly supports its role in healthy development. Whole milk, he said, delivers essential nutrients — protein, calcium, vitamin D, and healthy fats — critical for growth, immune function, and brain development.
As whole milk disappeared from school menus, Kennedy said, school milk consumption declined sharply.
“When schools limit milk choices, the kids do not move to healthier substitutes. They move to caffeinated drinks and sweetened beverages with little or no nutritional value. This bill expands choices to encourage consumption of nutrient-dense milk that kids will actually drink,” he said. “Milkfat is not junk food. Treating it that way undermined nutrition and ignored the science.”
Dr. Ben Carson, speaking as a physician and neurosurgeon and serving as USDA’s chief nutrition advisor, reinforced the message with a focus on brain development and taste.
“I want to thank the dairy farmers. I know you guys have been in the dog house for a little while — you’re out of the dog house today. Whole milk is a wonderful beverage,” Dr. Carson said. “Good protein, real food, healthy fats, important nutrients.”
He explained that the brain begins developing immediately after conception and continues adding millions of neurons every day into a person’s 20s.
“It’s important what that brain is getting,” he said. “Is it getting soda, or is it getting milk?”
Trump asked whether milk supports cognitive ability, Carson was precise: “Milk will help your cognitive ability. Absolutely.”
He also addressed a practical reality in schools: “When you go to a school and give kids milk — real milk — they love it. When you pour the stuff that looks like dishpan water, they don’t particularly want that. It doesn’t taste good.”
Milk supports bones, teeth, and long-term health, Carson said, but as a neurosurgeon, “the thing I really like is what it does for the brain.”
Senator Roger Marshall, also a medical doctor, echoed the nutrition case.
“Milk is the most wholesome, nutritious drink known to humankind,” he said. Years of reduced milk consumption, he warned, have had consequences, particularly for bone health.
Marshall credited House Ag Committee Chairman GT Thompson, a 15-year champion of the bill. Thompson said he has seen “firsthand that students prefer whole milk,” citing school taste tests where kids overwhelmingly chose whole milk over skim.
A mother said a doctor emphasized the need for protein for her son Luke during a critical growth stage. At school, the only milk options were skim or chocolate, neither of which he liked.
“So, he has been turning to juice boxes and other drinks that have sugar,” she said. “Thank you for giving him the opportunity, and parents too, to make this choice.”
Six-year-old Jesse stepped forward next. Asked where milk comes from, he didn’t hesitate: “First farmers milk it. Then they put it into a cold tank, and then they haul it somewhere cold in a big refrigerator.”
Trump smiled. “I’m going to give him a medal.”
The President turned to several farmers in the room. Thiele said he’d been thinking about this moment while milking cows the night before, calling it “a monumental day not just for dairy farmers, but all of agriculture.” He called the legislation a rare alignment where producers, processors, schools, and children all benefit. “It’s good all around.”
As children gathered closer, Trump picked up his pen.
“Hard to believe you had to wait so long. Let’s do this!” he said.
Holding up the signed law, Trump added, still noting his disbelief that something so straightforward had taken so long: “This is an important one for me. I’m going to just drink a lot of whole milk.”