Trump Signs Executive Orders at Mar-a-Lago, Feb. 18, 2025
February 18, 2025 · The White House · 0:36:55
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What happened
President Donald Trump signed executive orders at Mar-a-Lago on Feb. 18, 2025, carried on the White House channel. Staff Secretary Will Scharf presented the three items, as he described them: first, an executive order on the affordability and availability of in vitro fertilization and other fertility treatments, directing the Domestic Policy Council to examine ways to make IVF more affordable for more Americans; second, a presidential memorandum imposing radical transparency requirements on departments and agencies, requiring that details of uncovered waste, fraud, and abuse, canceled programs, and saved taxpayer dollars be made freely available to the public; and third, an executive order on independent agencies, establishing OMB and OIRA oversight functions and restating that only the President or the Attorney General can state what the law is for the United States.
The President, as the official description puts it, has taken bold action to expand access to IVF, with the order directing policy recommendations to safeguard IVF treatments and lower costs. Taking questions afterward, he said he was really disappointed in Ukraine’s leadership over the war, a war he said would never have happened if he was president.
Why it matters
The Mar-a-Lago signing bundles three tracked actions in one session: the IVF affordability order (Health), the transparency memorandum (the DOGE-era disclosure rule), and the independent-agencies oversight order - each described by the staff secretary who presented it for signature.
Scoreboard watch
Scoreboard candidate: the IVF executive order signed Feb. 18, 2025 (Domestic Policy Council directed to produce affordability recommendations) and the independent-agencies oversight order - flagged for the scoreboard editors; the entry itself remains review-gated.
Sources: The White House, “President Trump Signs Executive Orders at Mar-a-Lago, Feb. 18, 2025” (YouTube, 2025-02-18) - official description and broadcast transcript as aired.
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