President Donald Trump signed a law on Wednesday to bring whole and two percent milk back to American schools.
Trump signed the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act in the Oval Office, flanked by cabinet secretaries, lawmakers, and dairy farmers.
“Today, I’m delighted to sign the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act into law, which is a very important thing for our farmers, and I think maybe more important for our people–the people that drink milk,” Trump said ahead of enacting the law.
“This is the first bill signing of the new year, and it will ensure that millions of school-age children have access to high-quality milk as we make America healthy again,” he added before thanking Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) Brooke Rollins, Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F Kennedy Jr., and lawmakers.
The law reverses the school milk protocol set forth in the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, which banned whole and two percent milk options during lunch at schools participating in the National School Lunch Program.
“As it currently stands, schools participating in the National School Lunch Program are only able to offer students low or non-fat milk options,” Trump said.
“That was changed during the Obama administration. A lot of people disagreed with it at the time,” he added.
Rollins said that after reversing the Obama-era policy, it is just a matter of weeks before whole and two percent milk are once again available to America’s children at school.
“USDA is posting today the guidance. So we’re signing the bill, and USDA–we’re moving at Trump time–is posting today the new rule… that is necessary to get whole milk back into school lunches,” she said.
“It should just take a few weeks, and then the milk starts moving in,” she added.
Kennedy called the law “a long-overdue correction to the school nutrition policy that puts children’s health first.”
“The panoply of nutrients in whole milk is critical to brain development and physical development in our children,” Kennedy said.
“Whole and 2 percent milk provide 13 essential ingredients critical for growth, development, immune system function, and overall health, including protein, calcium, vitamin D, and healthy fats,” he added.
Reps. Glenn Thompson (R-PA) and Kim Schrier (D-WA), and Sens. Roger Marshall (R-KS) and Peter Welch (D-VT) introduced the legislation on a bipartisan basis back in January 2025.
