Story highlights Trump's 100th day in office falls on Saturday 
 
 He has pledged to help veterans 
 
 Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump, as part of his dash to rack up wins before the end of his first 100 days, signed an executive order Thursday that creates a new office devoted to protecting whistleblowers at the Department of Veterans Affairs. 
 
 Before signing the order at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Trump said the new office will help provide veterans with the "health care they need and the health care they deserve." 
 
 "We are not going to let them down," Trump said, arguing that the order "makes it clear that we will never tolerate substandard care for our great veterans" and ensure that those who report problems at the veterans affairs are protected. 
 
 Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin told reporters Wednesday that the office will review all VA employees and protect those who find employees within the agency who "have deviated" from the mission of serving veterans. 
 
 The new office comes after years of controversy in how the Department of Veterans Affairs was caring for the country's veterans and will work in concert with efforts already in place within the government, including an office that reviews the actions of senior executives inside the department and a White House hotline for veteran complaints. 
 
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 President Donald Trump signs an Executive Order on "Improving Accountability and Whistleblower Protection" at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Thursday, April 27, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew... (Associated Press) 
 
 President Donald Trump signs an Executive Order on "Improving Accountability and Whistleblower Protection" at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Thursday, April 27, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) (Associated Press) 
 
 President Donald Trump signs an Executive Order on "Improving Accountability and Whistleblower Protection" at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Thursday, April 27, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) (Associated Press) President Donald Trump signs an Executive Order on "Improving Accountability and Whistleblower Protection" at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Thursday, April 27, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew... (Associated Press) 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on Veterans Affairs (all times EDT): 
 
 5 p.m. 
 
 President Donald Trump is creating an office at the Department of Veterans Affairs to improve accountability and protect whistleblowers. 
 
 Trump says the Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection's creation sends "a strong message: Those who fail our veterans will be held, for the first time, accountable." 
 
 Trump signed an executive order creating the office during a visit Thursday to the VA. 
 
 The office's eventual head will report directly to VA Secretary David Shulkin. He says the office will help identify "barriers" that make it difficult to fire or reassign employees who are no longer considered fit to work there and serve veterans. 
 
 In 2014, as many as 40 veterans died while waiting months for appointments at the VA's medical center in Phoenix. 
 
 ___ 
 
 3 a.m. 
 
 President Donald Trump is signing an executive order to create an accountability and whistleblower protection office at the Department of Veterans Affairs. 
 
 VA Secretary David Shulkin says the eventual head of the office will report to him and help identify "barriers" hindering the department's ability to reassign employees who are no longer deemed fit to work in service of the nation's veterans. 
 
 The House has passed a bill to make it easier to fire VA employees. 
 
 Shulkin says Trump's decision to create the office by executive order speaks to his commitment to accountability at the VA. 
 
 The office is a byproduct of a 2014 scandal in which as many as 40 veterans died while waiting months for appointments at the VA's medical center in Phoenix.
– President Trump says he sent a "strong message" Thursday by signing an executive order that creates an Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection within the Department of Veterans Affairs, the AP reports. Trump says through the new office people "who fail our veterans" will be held accountable for the first time. VA Secretary David Shulkin tells CNN the office will protect VA employees who identify fellow workers who "have deviated" from the VA's mission. It will also remove "barriers" that make it hard to get rid of such employees. The executive order is in part a response to the up to 40 veterans who died in 2014 while waiting months for appointments at a VA center in Arizona.