President Trump has signed a memorandum directing the Department of Education to forgive all federal student loan debt owed by veterans who are "completely and permanently" disabled.

The policy change will eliminate "hundreds of millions of dollars" of student loan debt, Mr. Trump said in announcing the memo at a speech to the American Veterans 75th National Convention in Louisville, Kentucky. The memo Mr. Trump signed on stage Wednesday directs Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie to create an expedited process to make sure those veterans have their debt discharged with minimal burdens, according to the White House.

"I'm proud to announce that I am taking executive action to ensure that our wounded warriors are not saddled with mountains of student debt," Mr. Trump told the convention before signing the memo. "In a few moments I will sign a memorandum directing the Department of Education to eliminate every penny of federal student loan debt owed by American veterans who are completely and permanently disabled."

President Trump sign a presidential memorandum at the American Veterans 75th National Convention in Louisville, Kentucky, on August 21, 2019. Mandel Ngan / AFP/Getty Images

Disabled veterans can already apply for loan forgiveness, but the White House calls the process onerous.

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During his speech to the veterans group, the president also joked that he wouldn't bring up his campaign slogan because the event wasn't a campaign event — before bringing up his campaign slogan.

"I will not say 'keep America great,' but we're going to keep America great," Mr. Trump said.