President Donald Trump displays a signed bill in the Oval Office on January 14, 2026. Trump signed the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, which would restore whole milk to school lunches across the country. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump signed recovery legislation into law on Wednesday Whole milk in state-subsidized school meals.
The dairy staple — for more than a decade in after-school meal programs as part of broader efforts to curb childhood obesity — will soon return to school cafeterias, according to the law.
Trump said during a signing ceremony in the Oval Office that the Whole Milk for Healthy Children Act will “ensure that millions of school-age children have access to high-quality milk as we build America back to health.”
Sitting on the Resolute Desk with a jug of milk, Trump said the changes will also be “big victories for the American dairy farmers who we love and who voted for me in huge numbers.”
Ceremony at the White House
Agriculture Minister Brooke Rollins celebrated the law’s passage, saying her department would release Wednesday the “new regulations necessary to reintegrate whole milk into school lunches.”
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also praised Trump’s efforts, calling the measure a “long overdue correction to school nutrition policy that puts children’s health first.”
Trump was also joined by Dr. Ben Carson, national adviser on nutrition, health and housing at the USDA, as well as Democratic Senator Peter Welch of Vermont, Republican Senators John Boozman of Arkansas, Mike Crapo of Idaho and Roger Marshall of Kansas, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and advocates who supported the bill.
Also in attendance at the ceremony were Representative Glenn “GT” Thompson of Pennsylvania, Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, and Representative Tim Walberg of Michigan, Chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the bill in December after it passed unanimously in the Senate in November.
Welch and Marshall, along with Pennsylvania Sen. Dave McCormick, a Republican, and John Fetterman, a Democrat, introduced the measure in the Senate.
Thompson and Democratic Rep. Kim Schrier of Washington state brought relevant legislation in the house.
What the modern law does
By law, schools participating in the USDA’s National School Lunch Program can offer “flavored and unflavored organic or non-organic whole milk, reduced-fat, low-fat and fat-free liquid milk and lactose-free liquid milk.”
The program, which provides free or reduced-cost lunches in public and nonprofit private schools and residential child care facilities, was attended by nearly 29.4 million children on a typical day during the 2023-2024 school year, according to the Food Research and Action Center.
Schools may also offer “non-dairy beverages that are nutritionally equivalent to liquid milk and meet nutritional standards established by the Secretary of Agriculture.”
The law excludes milk fat from being classified as saturated fat because it refers to the “permissible average saturated fat content of a meal” in schools.
Parents and guardians, as well as physicians, may also provide a written statement that their student is receiving a non-dairy milk substitute.
Michael Dykes, president and CEO of the International Dairy Foods Association, celebrated the bill’s passage Wednesday opinion.
Dykes called the law “a win for our children, parents and school nutrition leaders because it gives schools the flexibility to offer flavored and unflavored milk options across all healthy fat levels that meet student needs and preferences.”
The signing marked the second major change to food policy this month. The US Department of Agriculture and the US Department of Health and Human Services have published the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2025-2030which encouraged more full-fat dairy products and protein.
