Recently, the alarming tales of Americans losing their lives due to unqualified, illegal alien truckers on U.S. highways have grabbed headlines. Across various states, there seems to be a troubling trend of allowing thousands of unqualified drivers to obtain commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) and take to the roads. This pressing issue was a focal point during a segment of the White House Cabinet meeting, led by President Trump with the participation of War Secretary Pete Hegseth, which was made accessible to the media on Thursday.

During this meeting, as reported by my colleague Bob Hoge, Secretary Hegseth addressed key topics including U.S. foreign policy, ongoing operations concerning Iran, and the broader peace process.

In a noteworthy portion of the discussions, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy provided a concerning update. He highlighted the significant dangers faced by first responders, such as police officers, due to untrained individuals, often illegal immigrants, operating large trucks on American roads. This issue poses a serious threat to public safety and underlines the need for stringent regulations and enforcement.

Duffy elaborated on the risks during his briefing to the President and the Cabinet members, emphasizing the urgent need for action to protect the lives of those who serve and safeguard our communities.

When it was his turn to give an update, Transportation (DoT) Secretary Sean Duffy told the president and his fellow Cabinet members about the very real dangers our first responders, including police officers, face from untrained illegals behind the wheel driving big rigs:

🚨 CABINET MEETING SHOCKER 🚨⁰⁰Pete Buttigieg allowed trucking schools to SELF-CERTIFY that they were qualified to train drivers!! @POTUS’ administration is ending the ROT and taking DANGEROUS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT TRUCKERS off the road 🚫🚛 pic.twitter.com/t482f0ZFuK

— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) March 26, 2026

Duffy said:

Thousands of people who can’t speak the language [in violation of] a long standing rule, and it’s a safety issue…if you can’t understand road signs, if you can’t communicate with law enforcement when you get pulled over, and communicate [to them] what’s on your rig, huge problem.

Then he revealed a shocking aspect of what was allowed to happen under former Biden Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg. Incredibly, Duffy shared, the DoT during Biden’s four-year tenure let truck driving schools certify themselves as qualified to ostensibly train CDL driving students by the hundreds (possibly thousands) – completely foregoing the necessary oversight of state authorities.

“They don’t have the knowledge, they don’t have the skills,” he said. All they had to do, Duffy claimed, was fork over a few hundred dollars, and they were handed a certificate that let them cruise hundreds of miles across our national highways. As he said, “They’re killing Americans on our roads,” and calling out the “rot” that Biden allowed to take place in the Transportation Department. “We’re ending that,” he said.

Essentially, this was like letting the companies operate under the honor system, when we’re talking about multiple-ton, potentially dangerous vehicles on America’s city streets and highways – when they are left to operate in unqualified hands the way many of these blue states have done. Sec. Duffy made an good analogy, comparing it to the negligence/fraud of the state of Minnesota’s “Learing” centers fraud schemes. 

One silver lining Sec. Duffy pointed to in his presentation was that even some blue states, including California, are “starting to come on board,” and work with them on this vital safety issue. He said that CA Governor Gavin Newsom (D) has moved in their direction, “a little bit,” which is pretty amazing to hear.

We’re also getting a boost in the effort to remove illegals truckers from a surprising ally – in fact, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters – as we wrote on Mar. 17.

READ MORE: Republicans Find a Surprising Partner in Push to Remove Illegal Truckers

Update: More Illegal Immigrant Truck Drivers Nabbed by DOT After Latest Deadly Crash

Thankfully, as Duffy shared in an encouraging post on his X account this week, about 17,000 foreign drivers who cannot speak or comprehend English on a Transportation Department standardized proficiency test, have had their commercial driver’s licenses revoked, and they have been pulled off U.S. roads: 

🚛🚫 NO ENGLISH, NO LICENSE!

17,000 TRUCKERS pulled OUT OF SERVICE for failing to pass our English language proficiency test. And we will continue to take dangerous foreign drivers OFF THE ROAD.

Making America’s highways SAFE for you is a TOP priority for @POTUS, @USDOT, and… pic.twitter.com/J6P7cOSKQu

— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) March 25, 2026

This turn-around is needed, when this kind of frightening incident keeps happening, something that DoT administrator Derek Barrs, who’s with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration division, recently demostrated in a roadside chat with a Fox News reporter:

🚚 @AlexisMcAdamsTV @AmericaRpts join @FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs on the road to see firsthand how USDOT is combatting dangerous foreign drivers who can’t speak English. It’s all part of a nationwide effort to keep you and your family SAFE on our roads ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/WmAkdIwVVe

— U.S. Department of Transportation (@USDOT) March 24, 2026

We are seeing progress on this under Team Trump 47- possibly saving countless lives of every day Americans on our nation’s highways and byways in the years to come. Good to see that.

Editor’s Note: President Trump is leading America into the “Golden Age” as Democrats try desperately to stop it.