‘We will liberate our country’

'We will liberate our country' Less than a month ago, President Donald J. Trump laid out a bold vision for defeating the opioid epidemic. In the weeks since, his Administration has taken further action to combat the crisis on all fronts: On March 23, President Trump signed the omnibus funding bill, providing about $4 billion for addiction treatment and prevention, drug courts, and other tools to combat the crisis. Last week, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the results of the first operation led by the new Joint Criminal Opioid Darknet Enforcement (J-CODE) Team, which resulted in 8 arrests and the seizure of drugs and weapons. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) conducted a 45-day surge in February and March to investigate medical professionals who were prescribing disproportionately high numbers of opioids. The surge led to 28 arrests and 147 revoked medical registrations. "Failure is not an option. Addiction is not our future," President Trump says. "We will liberate our country from this crisis." More: How the Administration is working every day to bring an end to the opioid crisis Step 1 to better infrastructure: Stop Washington infighting Investing in a rebuild of America's crumbling infrastructure is important, but President Trump knows funding will only help if we fix our country's broken approval process. Inefficient environmental reviews have led to unnecessary delays, depriving our communities of needed projects. Yesterday, President Trump gathered Federal agency leaders to sign the One Federal Decision Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), establishing a quicker process for environmental reviews of major infrastructure projects. Instead of expecting project sponsors to navigate multiple decision-making layers, one lead agency will be responsible for navigating each project through the entire process. Previous interagency disputes sometimes remained unresolved for years. Americans deserve better than this Byzantine system. With yesterday's MOU, President Trump is helping repair it. Learn more: Improving reviews, streamlining decisions, and cutting costly delays President meets with military leaders Top U.S. defense and military leaders met with President Trump last night, joining the Commander in Chief for dinner and meeting beforehand to review progress in protecting America's interests at home and abroad. The President reiterated his commitment to rebuilding our Nation's Armed Forces, including through the budget agreement he made with Congress that invests more than $1.4 trillion in defense over the next two years. This budget supports efforts to recover readiness, grow the force, buy more modern equipment, and give our troops a much deserved pay raise. Yesterday, President Trump also addressed this weekend's chemical weapons attack in Syria. "This is about humanity, we're talking about humanity, and it can't be allowed to happen," the President said. He reiterated that all options remain on the table for a U.S. response. Read the White House's full statement about President Trump's meeting with military leaders. Photo of the Day First Lady Melania Trump participates in a listening session with students | April 9, 2018 (Official White House Photo by Andrea Hanks) POTUS TODAY Today, President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence will meet and participate in a working lunch with the Amir of the State of Qatar. In the afternoon, the President will host the 2017 NCAA Football National Champions: The Alabama Crimson Tide at the White House.