Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2026
February 12, 2026
The President. Hello, everybody.
Q. Hi.
Q. Hello, Mr. President.
The President. This is a big one if you're into environment. This is about as big as it gets, they tell me. And it's an honor to be here with a terrific person who has worked so hard on this and some other terrific people. Thank you very much.
But I'm pleased to be joined today by EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, who you all know, and to announce the single largest deregulatory action in America history. That's a big statement, "in American history," and I think we can add the words "by far."
Under the process just completed by the EPA, we are officially terminating the so-called endangerment finding, a disastrous Obama-era policy that severely damaged the American auto industry and massively drove up prices for American consumers. Prices went up incredibly for a worse product. This action will eliminate over $1.3 trillion of regulatory costs and help bring car prices tumbling down dramatically.
You're going to get a better car; you're going to get a car that starts easier, a car that works better for a lot less money.
In 2009, Barack Hussein Obama, his EPA designated fossil fuels such as oil, gas, and other things that actually make factories rock and roll and other things drive very nicely as a threat to health and human welfare. Known as the "endangerment finding," this determination had no basis in fact—had none whatsoever—and it had no basis in law.
On the contrary, over the generations, fossil fuels have saved millions of lives and lifted billions of people out of poverty, and all over the world. And you see it with the blackouts all over where they don't use it, where they went to wind—intermittent wind, which is weak and ineffective and very, very costly—most costly energy there is. And people are dying because there was no air conditioning or there was no heating. Lots of other things—bad things happened.
And yet this radical rule became the legal foundation for the "green new scam," one of the greatest scams in history, probably as great—maybe even greater than "Russia, Russia, Russia" hoax, et cetera—which the Obama and Biden administration used to destroy countless jobs. And the jobs have been just decimated, although they're all coming back because of tariffs. They're all coming back into our country at levels we've never seen before.
But it raised prices and caused immense harm to the U.S. auto industry. We thought irreparable, but we've got them back. We're coming back now.
I was in Detroit, as you know, with Ford, and they had one of the earliest plants from the early 1900s, and it was going to be closed down. And then when I won, they said: "Let's keep it open for a little while. Let's see what happens."
And they just announced, as you know, they're going 24 hours around the clock, with that same plant that was going to be closed, because of what we've done.
For example, under the endangerment finding, they forced the hated start-stop feature onto American consumers, which unnecessarily shuts off a car's engine when you stop at a red light. In other words, the engine goes off. That's great.
The endangerment finding was also used to impose the massive and really very expensive electric vehicle mandate—expensive in the sense that nobody wanted it. Everybody was going to be forced to buy an electric car in a very short period of time even though you can't power the car, because we would have to spend $5 trillion on power stations. That's all dead, gone, over.
These crippling restrictions were a major factor in driving up car prices to unprecedented levels, and the car that you were getting was not nearly as good.
In four years under the Biden administration, the price of a new and used car rose more than 22 percent, all to facilitate the "green new scam," without achieving any meaningful impact on the environment, but making the car worse.
That's why, effective immediately, we are repealing the ridiculous endangerment finding and terminating all additional green emission standards imposed unnecessarily on vehicle models and engines between 2012 and 2027 and beyond.
This action will save American consumers trillions of dollars and will lower the average cost of a new vehicle by close to $3,000. Think of that.
During my campaign, I promised to cut 10 old regulations for every new regulation, and we've exceeded that. We've instead done it, 10 regulations—we were able to cut 129. So now we cut 129. So think of that. I promise to cut 10 old regulations for every new one, but we did more than 10. We did 129. That's something—nobody can even believe it.
So we did a lot of regulation cutting in the first administration—a record. Nobody even close to it. Now, we're actually exceeding it in this administration.
The biggest one yet that we've done is happening right now. So perhaps no industry has benefited more from our historic deregulation campaign than the U.S. auto industry. We canceled the EPA's absurd—just totally absurd—tailpipe emission standards, which was a disaster for automobile manufacturing, and revoked Biden's emissions waiver that would have allowed California to regulate automobiles for the entire nation.
And they're crazy out in California. They have nothing but trouble out there, as you know, and that's why people are leaving in record numbers.
I also ended Joe Biden's extreme CAFE emission standards, saving the average American consumer much more than $1,000 when they buy a new car. But now we're talking about close to
$3,000.
These regulation cuts, combined with our tax cuts and tariffs, are the reason why the world's largest automakers have announced that they're going to be spending in excess of $100 billion in the United States, in the next very short period of time, building new auto plants. We're bringing our auto plants, assembly plants, and factories roaring back to life, not even mentioning AI and all of the other things. We're building thousands of businesses in the United States.
And if you remember, on my first day, they said, if I could ever get the Dow up to 50,000 in my last year—in other words, in the fourth year—that it would be an unbelievable miracle. "But don't worry about it, because it will never happen," they said. And if I could get the S&P up to 7,000, they said, in the fourth year—they said: "It will never happen. Wait until—let's not even talk about. I have things—let's not even waste our time talking about it."
Well, at the very end of my first year, the Dow hit 50,000. Now, it's over 50,000. And 3 days before that, the S&P hit 7,000. So we didn't have to wait till the end of the fourth year. We just waited until the end of the first year.
We've never had a country in a position like this, and a lot of it's due to tariffs, and a lot of it's due to the fact that we had a great election, and a lot of good things have been done.
One of the good things I did was put Lee Zeldin in charge of our environment. So I'm going to ask Lee to say a few words. Thank you very much.
Thanks, Lee.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee M. Zeldin. Thank you, Mr. President. This is a big deal. Under President Trump's leadership, today, the Trump EPA has finalized the single largest act of deregulation in the history of the United States of America. Referred to by some as the holy grail of Federal regulatory overreach, the 2009 Obama EPA "endangerment finding" is now eliminated.
This action will save American taxpayers over $1.3 trillion. What that means is lower prices, more choices, and an end of heavy-handed climate policies. With today's announcement, American families will save over 2,400 vehicle—$2,400 for a new vehicle.
Sixteen years ago, an ideological crusade within the Obama administration set off the most costly regulatory power grab our country has ever experienced. The 2009 Obama EPA "endangerment finding" led to trillions of dollars in regulations that strangled entire sectors of the United States economy, including the American auto industry. It claimed new powers over the vehicles we drive, even though the best reading of the Clean Air Act clearly states otherwise.
[At this point, Administrator Zeldin continued his remarks, concluding as follows.]
We're restoring the rule of law. We're grounding policy in reality. We're giving power back to the American people. And we're bringing back the American dream stronger than ever before.
EPA will never waver on its core mission of protecting human health and the environment, and this administration knows we can do that while ushering in the golden age of America.
To recap: The 2009 Obama EPA "endangerment finding" and all greenhouse gas emission standards on light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles that followed is eliminated.
American families now will save over 2,400 vehicle—$2,400 for a new vehicle.
Today, the single largest act of deregulation in the history of the United States—over $1.3 trillion—the elimination of the endangerment finding, is signed, sealed, and delivered.
The President. Thank you, Lee.
That was long—[laughter]—but good. It was good. Maybe, I should say great. It was great, and we appreciate it.
Would you have anything to say, Russ? Please.
Office of Management and Budget Director Russell T. Vought. Thank you, Mr. President. Literally, no other President would have done this: to get at the foundations of the Green
New Deal. So, tremendously excited that we are where we are today. Great work by Lee.
I'm a little worried that this next year will be—EPA alone will be deregees by the number of things that are being—going—that come out of EPA. So great work to the team.
One-point-three trillion dollars in savings. Massive historical opportunity.
Thank you.
The President. Thank you, Russ.
Please. Would you like to speak? You're worthy of it. That's a good man.
Acting Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Mark R. Paoletta. Thank you, Mr. President. Today is a historic day led by President Trump's leadership. No other President, as Russ said, would have undertaken this and—at the speed we did. It was a great team effort. This is the model of the Trump administration: everyone working together, mission aligned.
The President. And Lee is also working on cleaning up the horrible situation with regard to farm equipment—you could use John Deere as an example, and other companies—where tractors are unbelievably expensive and don't work as well because of all of the environmental nonsense that was put on them—also, excavators, any equipment like that—bulldozers. Caterpillar tractor would be a beneficiary, I guess.
But the people are going to be a beneficiary because equipment is going to be a lot less expensive, and it's going to also—most importantly, it's going to work much better. Much better.
So we're working on that immediately, as we speak. And we'll probably make it so that any of that equipment built in the United States will not have to go through this. If it's built outside, I think we'll probably leave the standard the same. If people are going to send us equipment, let them have that standard for whatever it's worth, which is not much.
And I think that's a very big announcement too. And we're going to see if we can get that done very quickly so that all of that equipment that we have made—including lawn mowers, et cetera—we—you won't have to go to the finest schools in the world in order to figure out how to operate it. Okay?
So any questions, please?
Wind Turbines
Q. President Trump, thank you for this. And after this much-applauded roll—move to roll back the former EPA's endangerment finding, what additional steps do you plan on taking to scale back what many are calling climate industry scams? Specifically—and Secretary Zeldin knows about these wind turbines they're trying to bring to New York. A judge is allowing them to be rebuilt right near your hometown in Jamaica, Queens.
The President. It's too bad.
Q. They're being called a national security threat for traffic—air traffic coming into the airport. What could you do to make sure these things don't destroy the environment?
The President. Well, we're trying to make sure it doesn't happen, and we've basically stopped all windmills in this country.
They—it's the most expensive energy you can get. They're all made in China—a little bit in Germany, but mostly in China.
And we're putting them all over our fields and ruining the fields and killing the birds and all of this. And the environmentalists say they like them, but they really are a tremendous eyesore.
They ruined the—Europe has gone—as you know, it's gone to it. Europe isn't even recognizable anymore, between immigration and because of, you know, environmental things like the windmills, which are taking over. The people hate them.
The energy is by far the most expensive, and we're fighting very hard to make sure that they don't get built. I hope we don't have one built during my administration.
We inherited some contracts where—they've gone down the line a little bit. We're trying to terminate them on—for a lot of different reasons. One of the reasons, as you had mentioned——
Q. Security.
The President. ——it's endangerment for the military. It's also endangerment for airliners. So we're trying to take care of those situations now. They should have never been allowed in the first place.
Yes, please.
Q. Mr. President, thank you so much for taking questions.
The President. Sure.
Carbon Emissions/Consumer Prices/Tariffs
Q. What do you tell Americans who are concerned that the $1.3 trillion in savings does come at a cost to public health and the environment based on science?
The President. Yes. I tell them, "Don't worry about it," because it has nothing to do with public health. This was all a scam, a giant scam. This was a rip-off of the country by Obama and Biden, and let's say Obama started it and got it rolling. And a terrible rip-off.
They'll have more money to spend for health care, if you look at it. Now they can go out and spend it on something that's meaningful.
And nobody is doing more for health care than the Republican Party, and that starts with the fact that prescription drugs are going to be coming down at numbers that nobody has ever seen before. They're falling.
You know, we were paying the highest prices in the world by far—sometimes by 10 times more than other countries. Now we're going to be paying whatever the lowest price is anywhere in the world. We're going to be paying that. It's called favored nations—most favored nations, and I think it's the biggest thing to happen in this world—the world of medicine, prescription drugs—ever. There's never been anything like it.
You know, if—like, in my third year, first term, I actually got prices down one-quarter or one-eighth of a percent. And I was so proud of myself, because they were like that for years and years. And since, under Biden, they went up very, very substantially.
And now they're coming down by—depending on—you could say 500, 600, 700 percent depending on the way you want to—or you could say 80 percent. It doesn't matter. They're coming down by numbers that nobody ever thought possible.
I got it all done, and I got it all approved, and all of the countries all over the world are going to pay more. They've agreed to pay more because of tariffs. I said, "If you don't do it, we're going to have to tariff you," and they've all agreed to do it. Otherwise, they would have never done it.
That was why no President has ever been able to get it done.
Please.
Federal Regulations/Domestic Manufacturing Investment
Q. Yes. Mr. President, you took more than 600 deregulatory actions in your first year here. Coming from the business world, you know how unnecessary redtape can hinder business expansion, investment expansion. Given the magnitude of this announcement here today and the
deregulatory action you took in your first year, how much economic growth can we expect to see as your term progresses?
The President. It's a great question. I think that it will be enormous. Who knows really what the number is.
But I can tell you, in terms of economic growth, we have $18 trillion being invested in this country right now—the most ever of any country by far. Not even close. Think of it. No matter where—not just here. Eighteen trillion dollars is coming in, and that money is being spent right now as we speak in new plants and equipments.
And you may have heard—Lee mentioned; I mentioned also—that over $100 billion is going to be spent in this very short period of time just by foreign auto companies on building auto plants in the United States. I'm the greatest thing that ever happened to the United Auto Workers.
You know, the head man was—not been nice to me, but now I understand he's saying, "This is the greatest auto President in history." But the autoworkers gave me their vote, and they knew what I was doing. And they know—they know what needed to be done.
The tariffs saved them, but this is now taking it to a level that—I think, Lee, that nobody ever thought even possible. They thought this was—nobody would have the courage to do it. We have to have the courage to do it, because we're making America great again. This is a big—a big factor in making our country great.
If you look at some of these cars, they didn't even work. They had computers all over the place trying to save a half an ounce of—fuel. We have fuel for the next 500 to 1,000 years under our feet, and they're trying like hell to save a half an ounce of fuel. The whole thing is just crazy.
Please. Go ahead, please.
China-U.S. Relations
Q. Mr. President, is climate cooperation with China no longer in America's interest? And could you please confirm that you are going to visit China the first week of April?
The President. Yes, I'll be visiting President Xi——
Q. What would you like to achieve?
The President. ——in April. Look forward to it. He's coming here later in the year, and I look very much forward to it.
No, our relationship with China is very good right now, and this is, you know, not relevant, too much, having to do with China, what we're announcing today. But no, my relationship with President Xi is very good.
Yes.
Iran/Israel
Q. Mr. President, following your meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday, has your thinking changed at all as it relates to these negotiations with Iran——
The President. No, we have to make a deal.
Q. ——or the timeline with Iran?
The President. We have to make a deal, otherwise it's going to be very traumatic. Very traumatic. I don't want that to happen, but we have to make a deal.
They should have made a deal the first time, and they got Midnight Hammer instead. And this will be very traumatic for Iran if they don't make a deal. Look, if they don't make a deal, then it will be a different story.
But we had a very good meeting yesterday with Bibi Netanyahu, and he understands, but it's ultimately up to me. If the deal isn't a very fair deal and a very good deal with Iran, then it's going to be, I think, a very difficult time for them.
Q. Is there a timeline for——
The President. In the back.
Q. ——those talks, sir?
The President. I guess over the next month, something like that. Yes. It shouldn't take—I mean, should happen quickly. They should agree very quickly.
Yes.
Federal Law Enforcement Practices
Q. Mr. President, we might be heading into a partial Government shutdown. When was the last time you spoke with Chuck Schumer, and do you still feel Democrats are negotiating in good faith?
The President. Well, a week ago, I spoke. But you know, we have to protect our law enforcement. Actually, the Supreme Court gave a ruling—or one of the courts gave a very big ruling on masks, that you have the right to use them, you know, for personal protection if you want. So I don't know how that interjects.
You know, they want our law enforcement to be total—totally vulnerable and put them in a lot of danger. They have some things that are really very hard to—very, very hard to approve, frankly. As you know, it only—it's only protection—we had various of the other bills. That's all done, but we're left with this one. We have to protect our law enforcement. Very important.
Q. On the SAVE Act, Mr. President?
The President. Please.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel/Iran
Q. Why does Prime Minister Netanyahu want you to stop negotiating with Iran?
The President. He is—you're saying stop entertaining, stop talking to them?
Q. Mm-hmm.
The President. Didn't say that. We didn't discuss that. I'll talk to them as long as I like, and we'll see if we can get a deal with them. And if we can't, we'll have to go to phase two. Phase two will be very tough for them. I'm not looking for that.
Q. Mr. President, there are currently zero Israeli hostages left in Gaza because of you.
The President. Thank you.
Q. Thank you for that.
The President. Thank you.
Hamas Attacks of October 7, 2023, on Israel/Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel
Q. And now that the war is ending in Gaza and Israel, I wanted to ask: Do you believe Bibi bears any responsibility for the security failures that we saw on October 7?
The President. Well, October 7 was a rough time, and I guess everybody's responsible what's—you know, look—but it was a terrible attack. It was a sneak attack. It was as violent as any—I've—you know, unfortunately, I've seen some of the results at levels that probably even you—good reporter, but probably, you haven't seen. It was a horrible thing that took place.
People was surprised. It was a surprise attack. Nobody saw that coming. He didn't see it coming. Nobody else would have seen it coming if they were in his position, I don't believe. But I can tell you, he's been a very good wartime Prime Minister. He's been very strong. We've worked with him very well. We had tremendous success with Iran and everything else we've done.
And he really has been—he's been, you know, extraordinary, as far as a wartime Prime Minister. Not easy.
And you know, you have a President that refuses to give him a pardon. I think that man is—should be ashamed of himself. A pardon over this trial that's going on. The President of Israel, the primary power he's got is the power to give pardons. And he's not—you know, he said he's given it five different times, but he doesn't want to do it because I guess he loses his power. I think the people of Israel should really shame him. He's a—he's disgraceful for not giving it. He should give it.
But Bibi has been a great wartime Prime Minister, and I've been the best friend to Israel, I think, that they've ever had. [Laughter] A lot of people say, beyond Presidents—that they've ever had. And we will continue to be.
Yes, ma'am.
Election Reform
Q. On the SAVE Act, Mr. President. Voter ID polls very well nationally. Even the majority of Democrat voters want it.
The President. Right.
Q. So why do you think Senate Democrats are resisting the SAVE Act, and what is your strategy and realistic pathway to getting the SAVE Act passed——
The President. Yes.
Q. ——to ensure free and fair elections for the next generation?
The President. It's such a great question. I appreciate it, actually, because it's called the SAVE America Act. We've changed the name. It's the SAVE America Act, and the Democrats are against it. I heard one of them say, "We will stop the SAVE America Act." No, we're trying to save America, and it has to do with, largely, voting.
And, basically, it's got three very simple points. It's got voter ID—photo ID, but voter ID with a photo, right? It's got the confirmation of U.S. citizenship. You have to be a citizen. So, you have a vote, you have an ID. That's about a 99-percent one, and I think 90 percent with Democrats.
Then you have confirmation, U.S. citizenship. That's about a 99-percent one with Republicans; about 86 percent with Democrats, except Democrat politicians, because they cheat on elections.
And then you have no mail-in ballots, and it would be no mail-in ballots. Very important. You know, we're the only country in the world that does a system like we do. We're the only—
country in the world that has mail-in ballots. The way we do this is unbelievable. It guarantees cheating.
So it's no mail-in ballots with the exception of disability, illness, military, or, if you're traveling, you can get an exemption. You know, if you happen to be out of the country for a good reason, you can have an exemption. So, with exceptions, it's no mail-in ballots, and that will assure the security of our crooked elections. We have crooked elections.
Yes.
Deleted Social Media Post Portraying Former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama as Apes
Q. Mr. President, have you fired or disciplined that staffer who posted the video from your account that included the Obamas?
The President. No, I haven't. That was a video on, as you know, voter fraud. And fairly long video, and they had a little piece, and it had to do with "The Lion King." It's been very well—it's been shown all over the place, long before that was posted. But that was a very strong—if you—and I'm sure you saw it—a very strong piece on voter fraud, and the piece that you're talking about was all over the place many times, I believe, for years.
Yes, please.
Secretary of Commerce Howard W. Lutnick
Q. Mr. President, were you aware that Secretary of Commerce visited Epstein's island? And do you continue to have confidence in him?
The President. No, I wasn't aware of it. No, I didn't—I actually haven't spoken to him about it. I wasn't. But, from what I hear, he was there with his wife and children. And I guess, in some cases, some people were. I wasn't. I was never there. [Laughter] Somebody will someday say that. I was never there.
Yes, please.
Employment Statistics/Federal Workforce Reduction Efforts
Q. This announcement that you made today, Mr. President, comes on the heels of a January jobs report that smashed industry expectation.
The President. Yes. Smashed all records.
Q. In the—a big feature of that was you reprivatizing the economy, an economy that was bloated with Federal employment under the previous President. What's your message to Americans following this jobs report that smashes industry expectations? Is this just a sign that the best is yet to come?
The President. Thank you. The jobs report's amazing in certain ways because we have tremendously fewer Federal employees—way down. Now, I could have left them and added to what we did, and we would have had almost a hundred percent employment. I could have gotten a great kick out of the fact, say, "We're a hundred percent employed."
But we got rid of tremendous numbers of Federal workers, and they hated me for it. Now they love me because most of them have gotten jobs in the private sector for two and three times more money than they were being paid by the Federal Government.
We had some jobs where you had 10 workers for one job. Ten workers for a job that one person should be doing. And we've gotten rid of a lot of the—those jobs. And by getting rid of
them, these people became available to work in the private sector. And, as you know, the numbers are incredible.
So the job numbers are incredible. The financial numbers are beyond belief. Again, they thought it couldn't be done in 4 years, and I did it in 1 year. And the numbers you're going to see as these—
I don't know if you notice also construction numbers, the jobs for construction workers. You know why? Because they're building plants all over the United States. That's why.
And when these plants open in a year from now—some sooner, some a little bit later—but when these auto plants, AI plants, and thousands of other types of plants, when they open over the next period of a year, year and a half, you're going to see numbers like we've never seen before in this country.
Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you. Thank you.
NOTE: The President spoke at 1:36 p.m. in the Roosevelt Room at the White House. In his remarks, he referred to Shawn Fain, president, United Auto Workers; President Isaac Herzog of Israel; and Allison Lutnick, wife, and Brandon, Kyle and Ryan, sons, and Casey, daughter, of Secretary Lutnick. A reporter referred to Carl J. Nichols, judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia; and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer. The transcript was released by the Office of Communications on February 13.
Categories: Addresses and Remarks : Environmental Protection Agency, rescission of "endangerment finding" with respect to greenhouse gas emissions; Interviews With the News Media : Exchanges with reporters, White House.
Locations: Washington, DC.
Names: Biden, Joseph R., Jr.; Fain, Shawn; Herzog, Isaac; Lutnick, Allison; Lutnick, Brandon; Lutnick, Casey; Lutnick, Howard W.; Lutnick, Kyle; Lutnick, Ryan; Netanyahu, Benjamin; Obama, Barack; Paoletta, Mark A.; Vought, Russell T.; Xi Jinping; Zeldin, Lee M.
Subjects: Automobile industry, strengthening efforts; Carbon emissions, reduction efforts; China, President; Citizenship; Economic improvement; Election security and integrity, strengthening efforts; Electric and hybrid vehicles, promotion efforts; Electric vehicle charging infrastructure, improvement efforts; Environmental Protection Agency; Europe, energy sources; Federal workforce, reduction efforts; Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of; Iran, diplomatic engagement with U.S.; Iran, U.S. airstrikes on nuclear facilities; Israel, attacks by Hamas of October 7, 2023; Israel, President; Israel, Prime Minister; Job creation and growth; Law enforcement officers, service and dedication; Management and Budget, Office of; Manufacturing industry, domestic investment; Prescription drug costs, reduction efforts; Secretary of Commerce; Solar and wind energy; Stock market; Tariffs; Tax Code reform.
DCPD Number: DCPD202600098.