Trump signs women’s health executive order, a priority for first lady Melania Trump 

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday to boost women’s health initiatives – a priority for first lady Melania Trump, who called it a “transformative moment for women in America.”

The executive order establishes a women’s health task force at the White House and a women’s health division within the National Institutes of Health to “accelerate scientific discoveries to improve women’s health outcomes,” the first lady’s office said.

“Today’s executive order is a powerful step toward confronting health challenges unique to women,” White House spokeswoman Allison Schuster told Heartlander News. “Improving the health of all Americans is a top priority for President Trump and the first lady, and this task force will work to close critical research gaps and strengthen care for women across all stages of life, targeting some of the most widespread health conditions affecting them.”

Speaking at the White House Rose Garden, Trump said the idea seemed “so basic” but hadn’t been implemented until the first lady initiated it.

“When I heard about it, I said, ‘Are you sure they don’t have that? Who the hell wouldn’t have a women’s health division?’ Melania said, ‘They don’t have it,’” Trump said, recounting his conversation with the first lady.

He added that the “historic initiative will promote new research and really go after the understudied diseases affecting women and promote innovative technologies to diagnose conditions sooner and improve treatment using the best available science.”

The first lady said the initiative will “change the reality of women’s health.”

“Previous generations fought for women’s rights. Our generation will fight to discover the cures that will ensure a woman can live her life in health and to the fullest,” she said.

Despite advances in science, many conditions that “disproportionately or uniquely affect women” have not received adequate attention, the White House said. More research in women’s health is needed on issues including “cardiovascular and heart disease, cancer, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, autoimmune and inflammatory conditions, osteoporosis, mental health, chronic pain, endometriosis, fibroids, polyendocrine metabolic ovary syndrome (PMOS), infertility, maternal health, menopause, neurological disorders, aging, and more,” the White House added.

The first task force session convenes Monday, according to the first lady, who outlined five focus areas: funding research on diseases that uniquely affect women, using artificial intelligence to better understand female biology, speeding up the path from lab to patient, making breakthroughs financially accessible, and encouraging education and conversation on women’s health.

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who attended the signing of the executive order, said it will “transform” women’s health.

“Women and men are different even if the Left doesn’t believe it,” she wrote on X. “This puts real funding and research to support women’s health across the country.”

(Image credit: X/The White House)