1600 Daily The White House • July 15, 2020 LIVE: President Trump Speaks in Georgia at 3:10 p.m. ET

The White House • July 15, 2020 LIVE: President Trump speaks in Georgia at 3:10 p.m. ET About 90 years ago, builders put up the Empire State Building in just 13 months. Today, even the simplest construction projects can drag on for years, if not decades. This afternoon, President Trump is in Atlanta to discuss his new update to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This action marks the first time the NEPA will be comprehensively reformed in more than 40 years. This NEPA update will shorten average environmental review time from an unacceptable four-and-a-half years to just two years—ensuring that safe, modern, and resilient infrastructure can be built in record time while continuing to protect America’s environmental heritage.  WATCH LIVE: President Trump speaks from Atlanta at 3:10 p.m. ET READ: Costly government delays hurt taxpayers and risk public safety President Trump: China took ‘hundreds of billions’ a year from America President Trump signed both the Hong Kong Autonomy Act and a related executive order last night, which will hold China and others accountable for their efforts to stifle the freedom and safety of the people of Hong Kong. “We’ve all watched what happened. Not a good situation,” President Trump said during a press conference from the White House Rose Garden. “Their freedom has been taken away. Their rights have been taken away. And with it, goes Hong Kong.” China has violated its longstanding obligations on the issue, reversing Hong Kong’s status as a free society and endangering its innocent residents. These actions are a blatant violation of China’s promise to Great Britain that it would keep Hong Kong free and open until the year 2047.  President Trump announces new actions against China American lives and livelihoods are at risk, as well: 1,300 American businesses and 85,000 American citizens currently reside in Hong Kong. Last night’s actions give the President and his Administration powerful new tools to hold responsible any individuals and entities involved in extinguishing Hong Kong’s freedom. The executive order, for example, ends U.S. preferential treatment for Hong Kong unless and until the Chinese Communist Party takes appropriate corrective steps. “No administration has been tougher on China than this administration,” President Trump said. He’s right—from day one, these important actions have included: Placing hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs on Chinese goods to confront unfair trade practices   Launching a Section 301 investigation into China’s intellectual property abuses   Protecting U.S. national security by placing tariffs on steel from abroad   Stopping Federal retirement investment in problematic Chinese companies   Halting U.S. funding to the World Health Organization in response to its dangerous bias toward China on Coronavirus “China has taken out hundreds of billions of dollars a year from our country,” President Trump said. “And we rebuilt China. I give them all the credit in the world. I don’t give the credit for the people that used to stand here [at the White House], because they allowed this to happen.” Watch: No leader has been tougher on China READ IT: President Trump's Executive Order on Hong Kong Normalization Photo of the Day President Trump participates in a briefing from law enforcement officials | July 15, 2020