President Trump said Thursday his administration far exceeded his expectations this year by cutting 22 regulations for every new one imposed.
“We blew our target out of the water,” said Mr. Trump, who issued an order shortly after his inauguration requiring the government to cut two old regulations for every new one created. “We beat our goal by a lot.”
The president said he has challenged his Cabinet to “push even harder to cut even more regulations in 2018.”
“And that should just about do it. I don’t know if we’ll have any left to cut,” Mr. Trump said.
A Bloomberg News review last week said the administration’s claims of cutting red tape are “exaggerated.” The report said hundreds of pending regulations had been effectively shelved before Mr. Trump took office, while others listed as “withdrawn” were actually still being developed by federal agencies.
Mr. Trump said within the first 11 months of this year, “we canceled or delayed over 1,500 planned regulatory actions, more than any previous president by far.”
The president noted that his administration has approved the previously stalled Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines.
“We’re lifting restrictions on American energy and we’ve ended the war on coal,” Mr. Trump said. “The never-ending growth of red tape in America has come to a sudden, screeching and beautiful halt.”
Mr. Trump said the impact can be seen in the low unemployment rate and in the rising the stock market, which has set multiple record highs in 2017.
“Much of that is because of what we’ve done with regulation,” he said.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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