White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt used her official X account on Tuesday, August 4, to publicize the Trump administration’s latest trucking enforcement numbers, posting that the administration has canceled 28,000 commercial driver’s licenses held by illegal aliens. The post, timestamped 9:59 a.m., read in full: “Trump Admin Cancels 28,000 Trucker Licenses Held by Illegal Aliens.”
Leavitt’s post linked to an August 1 Breitbart News report detailing the scope of the crackdown, which the administration has carried out through the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Transportation (USDOT). According to that reporting, officials have worked with state governments to cancel the CDLs of 24,000 noncitizens found unable to speak or read English proficiently, to cancel an additional 28,000 illegally issued driver’s licenses, and to shut down 9,500 driving schools accused of helping unqualified drivers obtain commercial credentials.
The Numbers Behind the Announcement
The figures Leavitt amplified were first laid out in a DHS statement crediting the two departments’ joint effort to root out fraud in the commercial trucking system. “DHS [Department of Homeland Security] will be a force multiplier of our efforts to clean up America’s roads. President Trump is using every lever at his disposal to ensure the safety of American families,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said.
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin framed the effort in terms of highway safety, warning that lax licensing standards had already cost American lives. “Too many American lives have been lost in completely avoidable accidents because illegal aliens have been granted commercial driver’s licenses to drive trucks and 18-wheelers on America’s roadways,” Mullin said. “DHS law enforcement is partnering with the Department of Transportation to eliminate CDL fraud, strengthen the integrity of the CDL system, and investigate commercial driver’s license schools throughout the country. This is a whole of government approach, to keep America’s roads safe.”
A Crackdown Built Over Several Months
The enforcement push did not begin with Tuesday’s post. In December 2025, USDOT announced it would begin removing CDL training providers from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) Training Provider Registry for failing to meet the administration’s readiness standards. By February 2026, USDOT reported that more than 550 training schools had been flagged for violating FMCSA safety standards and issued notices of proposed removal. By July, the number of schools purged from the registry had grown to nearly 10,000.
The campaign expanded further on July 16, when DHS and USDOT announced a joint operation targeting roughly 75 entry-level driver training schools suspected of fraudulent activity, including falsified training records and improper certifications. Duffy summarized the year’s cumulative results at the time: “USDOT has spent the last year rooting out bad actors from our trucking industry. We’ve knocked over 24,000 drivers off our roads for failing to speak English, forced states to cancel over 28,000 licenses illegally issued to foreign drivers, and purged over 9,500 unqualified training schools from our FMCSA registry.”
DHS added that the school investigations and license cancellations were part of the administration’s “ongoing efforts to root out fraud from American trucking and restore integrity to the industry.”
Roots in a High-Profile Fatal Crash
The enforcement drive gained national attention in October 2025, after a fatal DUI crash on the I-10 Freeway in San Bernardino County, California, killed three people. The driver, an illegal immigrant who had entered the country in 2022, had been issued a California CDL. Leavitt addressed the case directly from the White House podium at the time. “I can confirm that California gave this individual a license, and it is something that the Department of Transportation has already looked into,” she told reporters, adding that DOT was responding to a “disturbing pattern” of licenses being issued to people in the country illegally.
Trump Pairs Enforcement With a Veterans’ Hiring Push
The license cancellations have been paired with an effort to fill the resulting driver shortage with military veterans. On July 30, Trump announced the “Freedom Haulers” initiative at the White House, framing it as the natural complement to the enforcement numbers. “We’ve already removed more than 24,000 non-English speakers from behind the wheel. We’ve also forced states to cancel more than 28,000 commercial drivers’ licenses unlawfully issued to illegal aliens. They were given illegally,” Trump said, before pivoting to the new program. “Under our brand new Freedom Haulers initiative, any American who has driven a heavy truck for our military will automatically be eligible for a commercial driver’s license, and it’s good-paying jobs too.”
Trump said veterans who had not driven trucks in the military would also have a path into the industry. “For the veterans where you have a situation where you don’t have truck drivers in the military, they’re gonna be given a very quick pass,” he said. “They’re gonna learn, and they’re gonna learn very quickly, and they’ll be licensed in a matter of a few weeks. They’re gonna take about three or four weeks of training.”
How the Veteran Waiver Works
Freedom Haulers builds on an existing federal rule rather than creating a wholly new legal framework. Under 49 CFR 383.77, finalized by the FMCSA in May 2011, states have been able to waive the skills-test portion of the CDL exam for service members and recently separated veterans with at least two years of relevant military driving experience. Trump’s announcement extends the window during which veterans can apply for that waiver from one year after separation to two years, and in participating states, broadens it into the “Even Exchange” program covering the written knowledge test as well.
Trump said 34 states had joined the initiative as of the July 30 announcement, singling out Indiana, Wyoming, Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama, Florida and Maryland, and calling on remaining states to sign on. Florida already maintains its own implementing regulation for the underlying federal waiver, requiring veterans to apply within 90 days of separation and complete the process within 120 days.
Departments Line Up Behind the Program
Duffy said the underlying skills-transfer logic behind the waiver has long been recognized by federal regulators given how closely military truck operations mirror civilian commercial driving. He noted that salaries in the program typically range from $80,000 to more than $100,000 annually. Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins said his department would widen access to CDL training through the GI Bill and the VA’s Veterans Readiness and Education program, pointing to more than 2,800 veterans already enrolled in related training nationwide. Acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling said the Department of Labor would support the effort through its Employment Navigator initiative, which connects transitioning service members with trucking employers directly at military bases before they separate from active duty.
Trump also cited safety statistics to make the case for veteran drivers, saying they are involved in 42 percent fewer accidents than non-veteran drivers despite logging roughly double the annual mileage. He said illegal aliens holding CDLs had caused at least 30 deaths over the previous year, along with numerous serious injuries. “The Radical Left wants more jobs for illegal aliens and more migrants in 18-Wheelers, and the Trump Administration wants safer roads and more jobs for the American veteran,” Trump said.
Industry Response
At least one major carrier has already committed to the program. Werner Enterprises President Nathan Meisgeier said his company would hire 1,400 veteran drivers over the next year in connection with the initiative, one of the earliest concrete hiring pledges tied to Freedom Haulers.
Where Things Stand
As of the July 30 announcement, neither the FMCSA nor individual state licensing agencies had issued updated implementing guidance reflecting the expanded two-year waiver window, leaving state motor vehicle departments to work out compliance details in the weeks ahead. Tuesday’s post from Leavitt did not announce new enforcement figures beyond those already reported by USDOT and DHS, but it signaled that the administration continues to treat the 28,000-license and 24,000-driver totals as a central talking point heading into the broader rollout of the veteran replacement program across the 34 participating states.