Trump’s Sons Were Big Game Hunters, Pictured With Elephant Parts After A Hunt. According to the Denver Post, “The president’s sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump are both avid game hunters. A photograph of Trump Jr. holding a knife and a dead elephant tail after a hunt in Zimbabwe in 2011 has drawn wide attention in the past.” [Denver Post, 3/6/18]
Trump Once Called Elephant Hunting A “Horror Show.” According to the Denver Post, “Trump later called elephant hunting a ‘horror show,’ and said that it would be very difficult for anyone to change his mind.” [Denver Post, 3/6/18]
Trump Admitted That He Was Not A Fan Of Hunting And Was “Not Thrilled” About His Sons’ Controversial Hunting Trip. According to CNN via YouTube, “REPORTER: I know it has to be a little difficult seeing your sons right now dealing with some tough press, they’re getting a hard time – Donald Trump Jr. and Eric – for some pictures posted of them online after a hunting trip. Pretty gruesome pictures – do you think they’re getting a bad rap being called out in this way? I know you’ve said you’re not a fan of hunting yourself, but do you think they’re getting an unfair, tough time? TRUMP: Well I’ve never understood it. They are great hunters and they are phenomenal shots and they’ve been into that all of their lives. And I never understood where they got it from, because it’s not me. I know they donated all of the proceeds – or all of the whatever it is – to the local tribes and to the people, but I just don’t really get it. Now, I haven’t seen the pictures, but I’m not thrilled, believe me.” [CNN via YouTube, 5/13/12]
Trump Admitted, “My Sons Love Hunting, I Don’t.” According to Trump via Twitter, “@cher Old story, one of which I publicly disapproved. My sons love hunting, I don’t.” [Trump via Twitter, 11/15/12]
The International Wildlife Conservation Council (IWCC) Was Formed In 2017 Under The Trump Administration And Was Tasked With Reversing Limits On Trophy Hunting. According to The Hill, “The controversial International Wildlife Conservation Council (IWCC), which gives the Trump administration advice on international big game hunting, has disbanded, according to a government court filing. […] The IWCC was created in 2017 and that year the Trump administration also moved to reverse a ban on elephant trophy imports from Africa.” [The Hill, 2/10/20]
The IWCC Was Filled With People Who Led Expeditions Overseas For Exotic Game Hunting And Other Trophy Hunters. According to the Associated Press, “A new U.S. advisory board created to help rewrite federal rules for importing the heads and hides of African elephants, lions and rhinos is stacked with trophy hunters, including some members with direct ties to President Donald Trump and his family. A review by The Associated Press of the backgrounds and social media posts of the 16 board members appointed by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke indicates they will agree with his position that the best way to protect critically threatened or endangered species is by encouraging wealthy Americans to shoot some of them. One appointee co-owns a private New York hunting preserve with Trump’s adult sons. The oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., drew the ire of animal rights activists after a 2011 photo emerged of him holding a bloody knife and the severed tail of an elephant he killed in Zimbabwe.” [Associated Press, 3/16/18]
The Trump Administration Allowed People To Bring Elephant Hunting Trophies Back To The U.S. From Overseas. According to the Denver Post, “The Trump administration will allow Americans to bring tusks and other elephant body parts back to this country as trophies, in a pivot away from the support President Donald Trump voiced for an Obama-era trophy ban after outcry last year. The decision, announced quietly last week in a March 1 memorandum from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, withdrew previous rulings on trophy hunting and said it would allow sport hunters to receive permits for the trophy items on a ‘case-by-case basis.’ The move contrasts sharply with the position taken by President Trump in November.” [Denver Post, 3/6/18]
The Department Of Interior Under Trump Allowed Hunting Of Grizzly Bears In Yellowstone National Park An Importing Trophies Of Lions Killed In Zimbabwe And Zambia. According to the Denver Post, “Under Zinke, who is also a hunter, the Interior Department’s policies have become noticeably more pro-hunting. According to the AP, the Department took a step in June to potentially allow grizzly bears near Yellowstone National Park to be hunted. And the Fish and Wildlife Service has begun allowing African lions killed in Zimbabwe and Zambia to be imported, the AP reported.” [Denver Post, 3/6/18]
The Trump Administration Allowed Hunting Brown Bears And Caribou On Nature Preserves In Alaska Using Methods That Have Been Called “Cruel And Unneccessary.” According to CBS News, “Hunters in Alaska will soon be allowed to use bacon grease and doughnuts to bait brown bears, spotlights to shoot hibernating mother bears and cubs in their dens and motorboats to shoot swimming caribou — thanks to a reversal of Obama-era guidelines by the Trump administration this week. Effective July 9, hunting on nature preserves in Alaska will once again be controlled by the state rather than the federal government. The new rule, published Tuesday in the Federal Register, reverses hunting bans put in place in all National Parks by the Obama administration in 2015 following years of pleading by environmental and wildlife protection groups. The rules, which many see as cruel and unnecessary, allow baiting of brown and black bears with human food, hunting of bears in their dens using artificial light, killing of wolves and coyotes in their dens during the season when mothers wean their young, using dogs to hunt bears and hunting of swimming caribou from boats. These actions were banned by Obama federally despite being permitted by the state of Alaska.” [CBS News, 6/10/20]
By Ignoring Climate Science, The Trump Administration Worsened The Environment For Hunters. According to an op-ed by Todd Tanner in Newsweek, “It's hard to live, much less hunt or fish, with the extreme rains and flooding that are becoming more and more commonplace in the East and Midwest. It's equally difficult to deal with the wildfires and dangerous smoke that are inundating our Western states year after year. Yet rather than standing up for sportsmen by limiting the greenhouse gas emissions that are putting our landscapes and waters in jeopardy, Trump has dismissed climate science in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. His administration has also killed the Clean Power Plan, rolled back methane regulations and pulled out of the Paris climate accord. It's almost as if the entire administration is detached from reality.” [Op-ed – Todd Tanner, Newsweek, 10/23/20]
The Trump Administration’s Attacks On Public Lands Hurt Hunting Populations. According to an op-ed by Todd Tanner in Newsweek, “Then there are the Trump administration's ongoing attacks on the public lands where so many of us fish, hunt, hike and camp. From taking a hatchet to the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, to expanding fracking on public lands, to logging the Tongass National Forest, to endangering Minnesota's Boundary Waters, to dismissing sage grouse habitat protections, to kick-starting oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, to putting anti-public lands fanatic William Perry Pendley in charge of the Bureau of Land Management, the Trump administration's public lands legacy is essentially one long, unremitting assault on our federal lands and waters.” [Op-ed – Todd Tanner, Newsweek, 10/23/20]
Trump’s Administration Harmed The Public Lands Through Environmental Policies That Impacted The Lands And Waterways That Hunters Rely On. According to an op-ed by Todd Tanner in Newsweek, “At the same time, America's hunters and anglers are faced with a litany of Trump administration affronts to our country's vital ecosystems. Any administration that rolls back stream protections and the Clean Water Rule, or tries to defund the Chesapeake Bay cleanup, or reanimates the moldering corpse of the Pebble Mine, is actively working to destroy the very lands and waters that our fish and wildlife depend upon.” [Op-ed – Todd Tanner, Newsweek, 10/23/20]
The Conservation Reserve Program Opened Farmland For Hunting. According to the Minnesota Star Tribune, “When Peterson was writing farm bills, Walz was his ‘lieutenant’’ on agriculture-related conservation issues. That included footwork on the all-important Conservation Reserve Program under which farmers receive federal payments to open millions of acres of idle land for hunting and other public recreation.” [Minnesota Star Tribune, 8/9/24]
As Of 2023, The Conservation Reserve Program Opened Up 24.8 Million Acres Of Land To Hunting And Public Recreation Use. According to the USDA, “In 2023, producers nationwide enrolled 927,000 acres through the General CRP Signup, more than 2.3 million acres through Grassland CRP Signup, and 694,000 acres through the Continuous CRP Signup. These 2023 signups bring the current total of acres involved in CRP enrollments to 24.8 million.” [USDA, accessed 8/19/24]
Project 2025 Sought To Eliminate The Conservation Reserve Program. According to The Hill, “The fire plan is part of a broader Project 2025 attack on the USDA’s historic role, born out of the 1930s Dust Bowl, as a steward of America’s natural resources. The project also seeks to constrict or eliminate the Conservation Reserve Program, which was established in 1985 to pay farmers to fallow sensitive land to give it time to recover. Its creation was part of a broader attempt to slow the loss of American topsoil, which is both the basis of the food system and is vanishing 25 times faster than it is generated.” [The Hill, 7/25/24]