President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday designating the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs campus as the National Center for Warrior Independence.

The executive order was intended to provide facilities and resources to help veterans “earn back their self-sufficiency.” Trump cited the West LA VA leasing its property to UCLA’s Jackie Robinson baseball stadium and other private entities as evidence of the federal government’s failure to help veterans.

The National Center for Warrior Independence will be geared toward veterans experiencing homelessness in the LA metropolitan area and across the country, providing care, benefits and services, according to the order. There were about 3,000 veterans experiencing homelessness in LA as of 2024, the order said.

The Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and heads of other relevant departments must ensure funds that may have been put toward housing and services toward undocumented immigrants are redirected to construct and maintain the National Center for Warrior Independence, according to the order.

The order also said the Secretary of Veterans Affairs must “take appropriate action” against people who have committed misconduct and investigate the Biden administration’s rehiring and reinstating back pay for employees previously fired for misconduct.

“During the previous administration, unaccountable bureaucrats treated them (homeless veterans) shamefully, failing veterans when they needed help most,” the order said. “The story of the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center is indicative of this failure.”

A plan must be made to reduce wait times for Veterans Health Administration appointments by exploring weekend appointments, expanded office hours and increased virtual health care options, the order said. Actions to reduce access times and improve service delivery must be prioritized, according to the order.

By January 1, 2028, the center must be available to house up to 6,000 veterans experiencing homelessness, according to the order.

UCLA Media Relations and UCLA Athletics did not respond in time to requests for comment.

The West LA VA campus had been a site of a monthslong legal battle in 2024, after a federal court ruled in September that several private entities – including Jackie Robinson baseball stadium – illegally leased the property.

UCLA baseball was allowed back into Jackie Robinson stadium in October for the 2025 season after agreeing to pay $600,000 to the Department of Veterans Affairs, though the VA had orders to begin plans for new modular housing on the stadium’s parking lot space.

“Our Nation’s security, prosperity, and freedom would not be possible without our veterans,” the order said. “Too many veterans are homeless in America. Each veteran deserves our gratitude.”

Rob Reynolds, a veteran of the Iraq War and a veterans advocate, said the order was the first time he has seen a president acknowledge the campus as an essential place to house homeless veterans.

Reynolds, who had been involved in veterans advocacy since the first Trump administration, said he appreciated Trump’s acknowledgement of the rent paid by private leases being below market value.

“This is the first time we’ve had the White House actually acknowledge this situation in the way that the president did,” Reynolds said. “We plan to take it one step at a time and try to really push to get these changes implemented and get our veterans off the street.”