Trump says illegal immigrants shouldn't drive trucks — veterans should replace them

President Donald Trump on Thursday (local time) announced a plan to help military veterans become truck drivers.

Trump unveiled the initiative at the White House, calling it the "Freedom Haulers" project. At its core, the plan would fast-track commercial driver's licenses for eligible veterans and cover the cost of training programs, allowing those who drove military vehicles during their service to apply that experience in comparable civilian roles.

The initiative goes beyond veteran support — it is directly tied to the Trump administration's hardline immigration policy of deporting undocumented immigrants. The aim is to ensure that jobs freed up by cracking down on immigrants who drive trucks without legal visas go to American citizens.

Trucking is also a major source of employment for white men without college degrees, a core constituency for Trump. In his remarks Thursday, Trump said his administration had already removed about 24,000 drivers who cannot speak English from the roads, and had directed states to revoke roughly 28,000 commercial driver's licenses that had been illegally issued to undocumented foreigners.

"We are getting the illegal aliens off the roads and replacing these unqualified immigrant truck drivers with fully qualified American veterans," he added.

The Trump administration halted the issuance of work visas for truck drivers entirely in August last year. In April last year, Trump also signed an executive order requiring all commercial vehicle operators in the United States to meet English proficiency standards.

According to US authorities, about 16 percent of American truck drivers as of 2023 were born outside the United States.