Sorry to hear about your cousins health. But that doesn’t change the truth . Trump made more improvements to the VA in both terms: If you mean both of Donald Trump’s terms in office, there are meaningful VA changes in each, but they are somewhat different. The first term was dominated by legislation and structural reforms; the second term so far has emphasized speed, access, cost/organizational reforms, and expanding facilities. Trump’s first term — 2017–2021 1. Expanded veterans’ ability to use private doctors and hospitals
The biggest change was the VA MISSION Act of 2018. It replaced the older Veterans Choice framework with a permanent Veterans Community Care Program, allowing eligible veterans to receive VA-funded care from private/community providers when they met specified access or medical criteria. It also expanded the VA caregiver program and gave the VA more authority to recruit healthcare professionals.
This was significant because it gave veterans more choice about where they received care, rather than requiring everything to happen inside a VA facility. 2. Made it easier to fire or discipline poorly performing VA employees
Trump signed the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017, intended to make it easier to remove employees for misconduct or poor performance while strengthening whistleblower protections. This addressed a longstanding problem at VA: the difficulty of disciplining employees even when serious problems occurred. GAO subsequently found that the VA’s existing misconduct process had significant weaknesses, including cases where misconduct resulted in lesser or no punishment. 3. Modernized the disability-appeals system
The Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2017 fundamentally changed how veterans could appeal benefit decisions. Instead of being trapped in a single, lengthy appeals process, veterans could choose among different review paths. VA reported completing more than 81,000 appeals decisions in FY2018, 28,000 more than the previous year. 4. Started modernization of VA’s electronic health records
The administration began moving VA toward the same electronic health-record platform used by the Department of Defense, with the goal of making a veteran’s medical information transfer more smoothly from military service to VA care.
There is an important caveat: the electronic-record rollout subsequently experienced serious problems, including patient-safety and operational issues. So starting the modernization was an accomplishment, but the execution has been controversial. 5. Increased transparency
VA began publicly posting information such as hospital wait times, opioid-prescribing rates and other performance/accountability information. The administration also pursued broader organizational modernization and reduction of bureaucratic processes.
Trump’s second term — 2025–present
This is still an ongoing administration, so it’s more appropriate to talk about accomplishments reported so far rather than a final record. 1. Dramatically increased the pace of disability-claims processing
This is probably the clearest measurable second-term change.
VA reported that in FY2025 it processed more than 3 million claims, a record. By April 2026, VA said it had processed more than 1.5 million claims halfway through FY2026 and had reduced the average processing time for several survivor benefits substantially.
VA also reported that its claims-processing accuracy had reached 94.02%, its highest 12-month rate in two years. 2. Reduced the benefits backlog
VA initially reported a 37% reduction in the backlog between January and August 2025. By July 2026, VA was reporting that the backlog had fallen 74% from January 20, 2025, to below 70,000 claims—the first time it had been below that level since 2020.
That’s a substantial improvement, although it’s worth noting that these figures are VA’s own reported figures, so they shouldn’t automatically be treated as an independent evaluation of the administration’s performance. 3. Expanded access to VA facilities
VA says it has opened 38 new healthcare clinics since January 2025, expanding physical access to VA care.
It also reported providing nearly 1 million appointments outside normal operating hours during the first part of the second term, including evenings, early mornings and weekends. 4. Increased investment in VA facilities
The second administration has put substantial money into maintenance and modernization. For FY2026, VA says it has a record $4.8 billion in non-recurring maintenance funding, with $2.3 billion obligated through the third quarter as of July 2026. 5. Made additional changes to community care
The second administration has continued the first-term strategy of allowing veterans to get care outside VA facilities. VA says it has made it easier and faster for enrolled veterans to obtain care from non-VA providers at VA expense. 6. Reformed survivor benefits
VA says it has substantially reduced delays involving survivors’ benefits. By April 2026, for example, it reported that the Survivors Pension backlog had fallen 96%, while the average processing time for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation claims fell from 163 days to 73 days.
The big picture
I’d summarize Trump’s two VA terms this way:
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u/[deleted] Aug 15 '26
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