Trump Calls for Department of Education to Be ‘Closed Immediately’

President Trump suggested on Tuesday that the United States could take direct ownership of Gaza and oversee its reconstruction, a dramatic shift in U.S. policy that would fundamentally alter the region’s geopolitical landscape. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Elizabeth Weibel (Breitbart)

President Donald Trump expressed that he wants the Department of Education to be “closed immediately,” describing it as a “big con job.”

When asked by a reporter how soon Trump wanted the Department of Education to be closed, Trump criticized how the United States education system was ranked 40th compared to other countries but ranked number one in terms of “costs per pupil.”

“Oh, I’d like it to be closed immediately,” Trump answered. “Look, the Department of Education is a big con job. We’re ranked — so they ranked the top forty countries in the world. We’re ranked number 40th, but we’re ranked number one in one department, costs per pupil. So, we spend more per pupil than any other country in the world, but we’re ranked number 40. We’ve been between 38 and 40, the last time I looked it was 38 and then I looked two days ago … it came out at number 40.”

“Norway, Denmark, Sweden, I hate to say it — China, as big as it is, it’s ranked in the top five,” Trump continued. “That’s a primary competitor. We’re ranked number 40 — so, if we’re ranked number 40, that means something’s really wrong, right?”

Trump continued to state that the United States government should send education back down to states, “I say send it back to Iowa, to Idaho, to Colorado.”

“We probably have 35, maybe 37 states that will do as well as Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden,” Trump added. “They’ll be just as good.”

Trump has previously stated he wants to close the Department of Education and move education back into the hands of the states.

Breitbart News’s Nick Gilbertson previously reported that Trump recently suggested that he would task Linda McMahon, his nominee to lead the Department of Education, to wind the department down and “put herself out of a job.”

“What I want to do is let the states run schools,” Trump said in response to a reporter asking why he had appointed McMahon to lead the Department of Education if he wants to get rid of it. “I believe strongly in school choice, but in addition to that, I want the states to run schools, and I want Linda to put herself out of a job.”

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