President Trump is fighting homelessness. Some worry his approach hurts veterans.
Consider This from NPR
NPR
4.2 • 6.2K Ratings
🗓️ 17 June 2026
⏱️ 9 minutes
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Summary
President Trump issued an executive order that aggressively targets homeless people - and advocates fear that includes veterans.
NPR's Quil Lawrence spent time with street-outreach workers in Long Beach, California to learn more about their concerns.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's considered this, where every day we go deep on one big news story. Today, how the Trump administration is addressing homelessness among veterans. |
| 0:08.6 | Nearly 750,000 people are homeless in the United States, including more than 30,000 military veterans. |
| 0:15.1 | That's according to the most recent government data. President Trump wants to see those numbers come down and signed an executive order to make |
| 0:22.3 | that happen. The Trump administration is changing federal policy when it comes to handling people |
| 0:27.8 | who are homeless and living on the streets or in encampments. The new policy reverses putting |
| 0:33.3 | people in housing first. Trump's approach favors placing homeless veterans under involuntary or |
| 0:38.6 | institutional care like a guardianship against their will. But advocates for homeless vets |
| 0:44.2 | worry what that can mean for the people they serve. Rather than make it something traumatic |
| 0:48.4 | where we're forcing you into it, let outreach workers like us build the relationship. |
| 0:55.0 | Consider this. The Trump administration issued an aggressive executive order targeting |
| 0:59.6 | homeless people. Advocates fear what that will mean for homeless veterans. |
| 1:07.1 | I'm NPR. I'm Scott Detrow. |
| 1:22.0 | It's consider this from NPR. |
| 1:28.5 | More than 30,000 U.S. military veterans are homeless, though that number has gone down in the past decade, |
| 1:33.6 | according to the latest government data. The Trump administration has promised new housing for vets, |
| 1:38.4 | but President Trump also issued an executive order that aggressively targets homeless people and veterans advocates fear that includes vets. And peers Quill Lawrence rode along with some |
| 1:43.7 | street outreach workers in Long Beach, California, |
| 1:46.4 | and sent us this report. |
| 1:48.5 | Veronica Hood with the group U.S. vets is loading up with hygiene kits and some hot meals, |
| 1:54.0 | key tools for doing outreach to homeless vets. |
| 1:57.3 | I'm so sorry. |
| 1:58.2 | The truck stereo starts blaring. |
... |
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