Category: United States of America

Source: United States White House

class=”has-text-align-center”>BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

On December 28, 2016, President Obama issued Proclamation 9558, which established the Bears Ears National Monument (Monument) in the State of Utah; reserved approximately 1.35 million acres of Federal land as part of the Monument; and directed that the Monument be jointly managed by the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Department of Agriculture’s United States Forest Service (USFS). 

On December 4, 2017, exercising my authority under section 320301 of title 54, United States Code (the “Antiquities Act”), I issued Proclamation 9681 to modify the boundaries of the Monument in accordance with the requirements of that Act, as well as to ensure the Monument’s proper management.  Proclamation 9681 excluded approximately 1.15 million acres from the Monument, and also reserved approximately 11,200 acres as part of the Monument that were not originally reserved by Proclamation 9558.  On October 8, 2021, President Biden issued Proclamation 10285 to modify the boundaries of the Monument to include all lands previously excluded, expanding the Monument to encompass approximately 1.36 million acres.

The Antiquities Act authorizes the President to declare historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated on land owned or controlled by the Federal Government to be national monuments.  The Antiquities Act further requires that any parcel of land reserved as part of a monument be confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected.  Where the President determines that the structures and objects identified by a prior monument proclamation no longer are, or never were, deserving of the Antiquities Act’s protections, the Antiquities Act permits the President to remove land from the monument and return it to its prior federally managed status.  Determining the appropriate protective area involves examining several factors, including the uniqueness and nature of the objects to be protected, the nature of the protection needed, the protection provided those objects by other laws, executive department and agency resources available to manage the parcel, and whether the lands are better suited for other non-monument uses.

Given these considerations, the monument designation made in Proclamation 10285 suffers from several flaws under Antiquities Act analysis that require the action taken by this proclamation.  First, Proclamation 10285’s designation rests on the purported need to protect items that are not historic landmarks, historic or prehistoric structures, or other objects of historic or scientific interest.  For example, Proclamation 10285 protects various generic features and landscapes found within the Bears Ears region, such as “deep sandstone canyons, broad desert mesas, towering monoliths, forested mountaintops dotted with lush meadows” and “low bluffs and high mesas.”  While scenic, these generic features are not “landmarks,” “structures,” or “objects of historical or scientific interest” worthy of protection under the Antiquities Act.

Second, certain landmarks, structures, or objects identified in Proclamation 10285 that could have the necessary historic or scientific interest in other contexts are prevalent throughout the Four Corners region and, in some cases, throughout the American West.  The relative commonness of these cultural resources within the broader area suggests that the specific instances of such objects found within the Monument are not of particular historic or scientific interest.  For instance, lithic scatters, projectile points, prehistoric campsites, petroglyphs, and pictographs are found across the American West and are not unique to the Bears Ears region.  Accordingly, a monument reservation was neither necessary nor appropriate to protect these items.

Third, because Proclamation 10285 reserved lands that were intended to protect several landmarks, structures, or objects that lack the necessary historic or scientific interest, it also disregards the Antiquities Act’s requirement that the reservation of Federal lands for a national monument be confined to the “smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected.”  If the parcel had been properly tailored to protect only those objects identified in Proclamation 10285 that do warrant protection under the Antiquities Act, it would have been much smaller.

Finally, a monument designation and reservation of land were unnecessary to protect many of the objects of historic and scientific interest identified by Proclamation 10285, which are already subject to enhanced protections under Federal laws enacted after the Antiquities Act that preserve archaeological, historic, cultural and paleontological resources, as well as plants and animals and their respective habitats.  These laws, including the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 (16 U.S.C. 470aa–470mm), National Historic Preservation Act (54 U.S.C. 300101 et seq.), Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 668–668d), Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), Federal Cave Resources Protection Act of 1988 (16 U.S.C. 4301 et seq.), Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), National Forest Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1600 et seq.),Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. 703–712), Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1976 (25 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.), and Paleontological Resources Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470aaa–470aaa–11), authorize the BLM or the USFS to limit and condition activities on Federal lands for the protection of certain natural or cultural resources, whether they are within or outside a national monument.  

For instance, more than 500,000 acres of the Monument were already being managed to maintain, enhance, or protect their roadless character before they were designated as part of a national monument.  Specifically, the BLM manages approximately 380,759 acres of lands within the existing monument as Wilderness Study Areas, which the BLM is required by law to manage so as not to impair their suitability for future congressional designation as Wilderness.  On lands managed by the USFS, 46,348 acres are part of the congressionally designated Dark Canyon Wilderness Area, which, under the 1964 Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131-1136), and the Utah Wilderness Act of 1984 (Public Law 98-428), the USFS must manage so as to maintain or enhance its wilderness character.  As a result, many of the objects previously designated as monuments by Proclamation 10285 are already adequately protected by Federal law and do not require a reservation of land under the Antiquities Act for protection.   

In light of these flaws, I have determined, in my discretion, that the parcel of land reserved by Proclamation 10285 is not confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects of scientific or historic interest identified therein.  Instead, proper care and management can be provided to those objects by a smaller reservation of approximately 121,096 acres comprising two units:  the Shash Jáa Unit and the Indian Creek Unit.  Revising the boundaries of the Monument in this way will ensure that, in accordance with the Antiquities Act, the reservation is the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected.  Revising the Monument’s boundaries to encompass approximately 121,096 acres will also account for practical limitations on the BLM’s and the USFS’s land management resources and funding, ensuring that these remain adequate to provide proper care and management for the protected objects now and in the future.

Revising the boundaries of the Monument will also unburden public National Forest System lands that can and should be put to a higher-priority use.  The Bears Ears region contains several resources that are vital to energy and resource independence and, in turn, critical to national security.  These resources — which include critical minerals such as silver, copper, molybdenum, lead, uranium, vanadium, and zinc — create jobs, fuel prosperity, and are essential to important sectors of the economy of the United States, including defense, manufacturing, and transportation.  It is imperative that the United States not rely on foreign sources for these resources.  Modifying the Monument’s boundaries will help ensure that adequate domestic supplies exist, thereby reducing the threat posed by our Nation’s reliance on foreign sources.

The approximately 106,816-acre Shash Jáa Unit is the heart of the Monument.  These lands encompass a collection of objects of historic and scientific interest that represent the Bears Ears region’s natural and cultural heritage.  For example, the Shash Jáa Unit contains notable geologic features, including the iconic twin buttes known as the Bears Ears, which are considered sacred by the Native American tribes that call this area their ancestral home and which were a prominent landmark for both ancient peoples and the more recent inhabitants of the region.  The Shash Jáa Unit also holds Arch Canyon, Mule Canyon, and Comb Ridge — a north-south trending monocline that resembles a rooster’s comb.  

The Shash Jáa Unit contains an abundance of cultural and archaeological objects spanning thousands of years of human history, such as dispersed villages, pit houses, kivas, storage pits, storage rooms, pottery, lithic scatters, campsites, rock shelters, pictographs, and baskets, as well as manos and metates for grinding corn.  These objects also include large villages from the Pueblo I period, cliff dwellings from the Pueblo III period, and expansive and complex multi-family dwellings from the Pueblo II period near Comb Wash; the Arch Canyon ruin, which contains pictographs and petroglyphs ranging from the Archaic to the historic period; shelter-cliff dwellings from the Pueblo II and III periods in the north and south forks of Mule Canyon, as well as other archaeological sites there, including the House on Fire Ruin; alcoves near Whiskers Draw containing evidence of human habitation from the Basketmaker period; portions of the Butler Wash Archeological District, an Ancestral Puebloan ruin with multiple rooms and kivas that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places; the Butler Wash Kachina Panel, a wall-sized mural of San Juan Anthropomorph figures; and Milk Ranch Point, which is home to a rich concentration of kivas, granaries, and dwellings.

The Shash Jáa Unit also contains important paleontological objects, including Triassic vertebrate trace fossils near Comb Ridge.  Additionally, the Shash Jáa Unit contains several historic sites that shed light on the Bears Ears region’s more modern cultural heritage.  For example, the unit contains objects related to the cowboys, trappers, and explorers that moved into the region in the mid-1800s, as well as objects related to settlers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter‑day Saints (Latter Day Saints).  This last group of objects includes prominent features of the Hole-in-the-Rock Road, such as Salvation Knoll, and San Juan Hill, which served as navigation points for Latter Day Saints traveling into southeastern Utah.  

Finally, the Shash Jáa Unit described on the accompanying map includes five non-contiguous parcels of land encompassing significant historic and prehistoric structures and objects of historic and scientific interest, including:

1)  a 157-acre parcel reserved for Doll House Ruin, a fully-intact and well-preserved single-room granary, as well as for other prehistoric structures and objects in a tributary of Woodenshoe Canyon;

2)  a 314-acre parcel reserved for Scorup Cabin, a line cabin originally built in Rig Canyon and later moved to its current location, used by early cowboys as a summer camp while tending cattle in the area;

3)  a 693-acre parcel reserved for the Rig Canyon Mining Exploration Site, which supported a vertical oil well, drilled in 1926, in a wildcat oil field;  

4)  a 318-acre parcel reserved for the Moon House complex, an example of Pueblo-decorated architecture that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is likely the last human occupied site on Cedar Mesa; and

5)  an 88-acre parcel reserved for the Citadel, an Ancestral Puebloan site featuring several masonry rooms and a series of deteriorating features on Cedar Mesa.

The approximately 14,279-acre Indian Creek Unit also contains objects of historic and scientific interest that are representative of the region’s natural and cultural heritage, such as dinosaur tracks and distinctive and well-preserved petroglyphs in Shay Canyon; Newspaper Rock, a roadside rock art panel that has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1976; and notable paleontological resources, including abundant fossilized flora and fauna. 

Accordingly, the area described above and on the accompanying map is the smallest compatible with the proper care and management of the objects of historic and scientific interest identified above, which I have determined in my discretion warrant protection under the Antiquities Act.  This modification of the Monument will maintain and protect those objects and preserve the area’s cultural, scientific, and historic legacy.

WHEREAS, section 320301 of title 54, United States Code authorizes the President, in the President’s discretion, to declare by public proclamation historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated upon the lands owned or controlled by the Federal Government to be national monuments, and to reserve as a part thereof parcels of land; and

WHEREAS, the Antiquities Act also permits the President, in the President’s discretion, to alter a prior declaration of a national monument by finding that objects identified in the prior declaration either are no longer deserving of the Antiquities Act’s protections, or never were; and

WHEREAS, many of the resources and objects identified by Proclamation 10285 are not historic landmarks, historic structures, or other objects of historic or scientific interest and, therefore, should not have been declared to be national monuments under the Antiquities Act; and 

WHEREAS, many of the resources and objects designated as monuments by Proclamation 10285 do not require a reservation of land to protect them because they are not unique to those areas, were not under threat of damage or destruction before designation, or are sufficiently protected by Federal law; and

WHEREAS, the reservation of land established by Proclamation 10285 is not “the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected”; and

WHEREAS, given the budgetary and resource constraints of the BLM and the USFS, which have only intensified since 2017, the boundaries established by Proclamations 9681 and 10285 encompass lands too vast to ensure the proper care and management of all of the protected objects located therein; and

WHEREAS, the need to reduce our Nation’s reliance on foreign sources of several resources vital to our economic and national security, including resources located within the historic and current boundaries of the Monument, is also greater than it was in 2017, thereby further necessitating the exclusion of lands that were retained within the Monument by Proclamation 9681; and     

WHEREAS, it is in the public interest to modify the boundaries of the Monument to exclude from its reservation approximately 1,238,904 acres of land that I find unnecessary for or disadvantageous to the proper care and management of objects to be protected within the Monument; and

WHEREAS, I find that the boundaries of the Monument as described above and on the accompanying map represent the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects of historic and scientific interest identified above.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by the authority vested in me by section 320301 of title 54, United States Code, proclaim that the boundaries of the Bears Ears National Monument are hereby modified to include those lands owned or controlled by the Federal Government within the boundaries described on the accompanying map, which is attached to and forms a part of this proclamation.  I hereby further proclaim that the modified Monument areas identified on the accompanying map shall be known as the Indian Creek Unit and Shash Jáa Unit, the latter of which shall include the Moon House complex, the Citadel, Doll House Ruins, Scorup Cabin, and the Rig Canyon Exploration site.  These reserved Federal lands cumulatively encompass approximately 121,096 acres.  The boundaries described on the accompanying map are confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected.  Any lands reserved by Proclamations 9558, 9681, or 10285 not within the boundaries identified on the accompanying map are hereby excluded from the Monument.

At 9:00 a.m., eastern daylight time, on the date that is 60 days after the date of this proclamation, subject to valid existing rights, the provisions of existing withdrawals, and the requirements of applicable law, the public and National Forest System lands excluded from the Monument reservation shall be open to:

(1)  entry, location, selection, sale, or other disposition under the public land laws and laws applicable to the USFS;

(2)  disposition under all laws relating to mineral and geothermal leasing; and

(3)  location, entry, and patent under the mining laws.

Appropriation of lands under the mining laws before the date and time of restoration is unauthorized.  Any such attempted appropriation, including attempted adverse possession under 30 U.S.C. 38, shall vest no rights against the United States.  Acts required to establish a location and to initiate a right of possession are governed by State law where not in conflict with Federal law.

Nothing in this proclamation shall be construed to remove any lands from the Manti-La Sal National Forest or to otherwise revoke, modify, or affect any withdrawal, reservation, or appropriation, other than those set forth in Proclamations 9558, 9681, and 10285.

Nothing in this proclamation shall change the management of the areas designated and reserved by Proclamations 9558, 9681, and 10285 that remain part of the Monument in accordance with the terms of this proclamation, except as provided by the following eleven paragraphs:

For purposes of providing for the proper care and management of the objects identified above, and to facilitate multiple uses of the Monument that are consistent with the proper care and management of those objects, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture (the Secretaries) shall jointly maintain a management plan for the Monument and shall promulgate such regulations for its management, consistent with applicable law, as they deem appropriate.  The Secretaries, through the BLM and the USFS, shall consult with other Federal land management agencies or agency components in the local area, including the National Park Service, when developing any management plan.  In promulgating any management rules and regulations governing the National Forest System lands within the Monument and developing any management plan, the Secretary of Agriculture, through the USFS, shall consult with the Secretary of the Interior, through the BLM.  The Secretaries shall provide for public involvement in the development of any management plan, including consultation with federally recognized Tribes and State and local governments.  In developing and implementing any management plan, the Secretaries shall provide opportunities, pursuant to applicable legal authorities, for resource sharing, operational efficiency, and cooperation with other Federal land management agencies, State and local governments, and federally recognized Tribes.  When developing any management plan for lands within the Monument, the Secretaries shall take into account, to the maximum extent consistent with the proper care and management of the objects identified above, the importance of (1) providing appropriate access for and otherwise facilitating livestock grazing; (2) maintaining and improving public access to the Monument, including for recreation and hunting; and (3) providing educational experiences that reflect the diversity of the Monument’s natural and anthropogenic features and their use throughout the history of the Bears Ears region.

Proclamations 9558 and 10285 established the Bears Ears Commission (BEC) to provide guidance and recommendations on the development and implementation of management plans and on management of the Monument.  The BEC is hereby disbanded and terminated, and the Secretaries shall have no obligation to engage, consult, or coordinate with the BEC or a comparable entity as provided in, or derived from, either Proclamation 9558 or 10285, though the Secretaries shall continue to consult with Tribal Nations in accordance with other applicable authorities.

Proclamation 9558 established an advisory committee under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) to provide information and advice regarding the development of management plans for the Monument and, as appropriate, management of the Monument.  Proclamation 9558 is hereby revised to clarify that the Monument advisory committee shall consist of a balanced representation of interested stakeholders that specifically includes one member each from the Hopi Nation, the Navajo Nation, the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and the Pueblo of Zuni; one member each from San Juan County, Monticello City, Blanding City, and the Town of Bluff; and six members recommended by the Governor of Utah.  Of those six members recommended by the Governor of Utah, each shall belong to one of the following stakeholder groups:  archaeological or historical experts; livestock grazing permittees; outdoor recreation participants, including commercial recreation providers or off-highway vehicle users; conservationists; private landowners; and local business owners.

Nothing in this proclamation affects the designation, maintenance, and improvement of existing roads and trails within the Monument, which shall continue to be governed by laws and regulations other than this proclamation.  The Secretaries shall prepare a new transportation plan that endeavors to maximize public access to the Monument by designating roads and trails on which motorized and non-motorized vehicle use will be allowed, as well as providing for appropriate maintenance of those roads and trails.  Pending completion of that transportation plan, the Secretaries may allow motorized and non-motorized vehicle use on roads and trails designated for such use immediately before the issuance of Proclamation 9558 and may maintain roads and trails for such use.  The Secretaries may also designate for motorized vehicle use roads and trails that were not designated for such use prior to the issuance of Proclamation 9558, regardless of the purpose of that use.

The Secretaries shall consider the effects of proposed activities, including potential road closures, on historic roads in the Monument, in accordance with the regulations at 36 C.F.R. part 800, as appropriate.

Consistent with the proper care and management of the objects identified above, the Secretaries may authorize ecological restoration and active vegetation management activities in the Monument.  When engaging in management planning for the Monument, the Secretaries shall consider the full range of vegetation management tools, including mechanical mastication, grazing, and new vegetation management technology that becomes available in the future.  Additionally, because noxious weeds and invasive plant species increase wildfire risks, the Secretaries may authorize the use of mechanical, natural, and chemical tools for controlling the proliferation of noxious weeds and invasive plant species, and should coordinate with the San Juan County Weed Board, as appropriate, in developing and implementing treatment plans.  Livestock grazing should be utilized as a primary option for mitigating noxious weeds as well as managing fuels and vegetation.

In recognition of the enduring tradition of livestock grazing in the Monument and its historical and cultural significance to local communities, nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to affect authorizations for livestock grazing, or administration thereof, on Federal lands within the Monument.  Livestock grazing within the Monument shall continue to be governed by laws and regulations other than this proclamation.

The Secretaries shall endeavor to authorize traditional land uses within the Monument, such as grazing, recreation, timber management, public access, and infrastructure development, to the greatest extent possible, consistent with applicable law.  Where restrictions on proposed uses are necessary to comply with applicable laws, such restrictions shall be narrowly tailored.

The Secretaries shall consider livestock grazing lands in the Monument to constitute a traditional cultural place (TCP) and shall consider how proposed activities will impact that TCP in accordance with the regulations at 36 C.F.R. part 800, as appropriate. 

If any livestock grazing permits or leases are voluntarily relinquished by existing holders, the Secretaries shall, within 1 year, re-allocate the relinquished forage, including by issuing a new permit or lease for the relevant allotment, as appropriate, unless the Secretaries specifically find that such reallocation is inconsistent with the proper care and management of the objects identified above.  

If any provision of this proclamation, including its application to a particular parcel of land, is held to be invalid, the remainder of this proclamation shall not be affected thereby.  Furthermore, to the extent that any provision of Proclamations 9558, 9681, or 10285 is inconsistent with or contradicts this proclamation, the terms of this proclamation shall govern.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fifty-first.

                             DONALD J. TRUMP

Source: United States White House

class=”has-text-align-center”>BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

1.  The United States relies on a strong chemical manufacturing sector to support industries like energy, national defense, agriculture, and health care.  These facilities produce essential inputs for critical infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, medical sterilization, semiconductors, and national defense systems.  Maintaining a robust domestic chemical industry is vital to safeguarding the supply chains that underpin our economy and to reducing the Nation’s dependence on foreign control over materials critical to national resilience.  As adversaries expand influence over key inputs, continued domestic production is essential not only to economic resilience but also to military readiness, public health, and national preparedness.

2.  On May 16, 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency published a final rule titled New Source Performance Standards for the Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturing Industry and National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for the Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturing Industry and Group I & II Polymers and Resins Industry, 89 FR 42932(HON Rule).  The HON Rule imposes new emissions-control requirements on certain chemical manufacturing facilities, some of which were promulgated pursuant to section 112 of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. 7412.

3.  The HON Rule imposes substantial burdens on chemical manufacturers already operating under stringent regulations.  Many of the testing and monitoring requirements outlined in the HON Rule rely on technologies that are not practically available, not demonstrated at the necessary scale, or cannot be implemented safely or consistently under real-world conditions.  For many facilities, the timeline for compliance as set forth in the HON Rule at 89 FR 42953-42955 would require shutdowns or massive capital investments before any proven pathway to compliance exists.  The HON Rule imposes requirements that assume uniform technological availability across facilities, despite significant variation in site conditions, permitting realities, and equipment configurations.  A disruption of this capacity would weaken key supply chains, increase dependence on foreign producers, and impair our ability to respond effectively in a time of crisis.  These consequences would ripple across sectors vital to America’s growing industrial strength and emergency readiness.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, including section 112(i)(4) of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. 7412(i)(4), do hereby proclaim that certain stationary sources subject to the HON Rule, as identified in Annex I of this proclamation, are exempt from compliance with those aspects of the HON Rule that were promulgated under section 112 of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. 7412, for a period of 2 years beyond the HON Rule’s relevant compliance dates (Exemption).  This Exemption applies to all compliance deadlines established under the HON Rule applicable to the stationary sources listed in Annex I, with each such deadline extended by 2 years from the date originally required for such deadline.  The effect of this Exemption is that, during each such 2-year period, these stationary sources will be subject to the emissions and compliance obligations that they are currently subject to under the applicable standard as that standard existed prior to the HON Rule.  In support of this Exemption, I hereby make the following determinations:

a.  The technology to implement the HON Rule is not available.  Such technology does not exist in a commercially viable form sufficient to allow implementation of and compliance with the HON Rule by the compliance dates in the HON Rule.

b.  It is in the national security interests of the United States to issue this Exemption for the reasons stated in paragraphs 1 and 3 of this proclamation.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this ninth day of July, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fifty-first.

ANNEX I

                             DONALD J. TRUMP

Source: United States White House

RIGHTSIZING UTAH NATIONAL MONUMENTS: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed Proclamations modifying two Utah national monuments, the Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The Proclamations reduce these monuments to appropriate sizes that allow for common sense land use in these areas.

• One Proclamation reduces the size of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument from approximately 1.87 million acres to approximately 181,500 acres.
• Another Proclamation reduces the size of the Bears Ears National Monument from approximately 1.36 million acres to approximately 121,100 acres.
• The specific landmarks, structures, and objects of historic and scientific interest that the Antiquities Act and monuments safeguard will continue to be protected, while the surrounding lands not relevant to such protected landmarks, structures, and objects will now be available for multiple-use, sustained-yield management.

FIGHTING GOVERNMENT OVERREACH ON PUBLIC LAND: President Trump is ending the overreach and abuse of the Antiquities Act, which has been used to restrict the uses of America’s public lands.

• The Antiquities Act requires that objects protected by a monument be of historic or scientific interest, and that the area reserved for the monument to protect the objects be the smallest area compatible with their proper care and management.
  • The term “Objects of historic or scientific interest” has been stretched to include landscape areas, biodiversity, “viewsheds,” and “remoteness.”
• Many of the features and resources noted in the proclamations establishing these national monuments are not objects of historic or scientific interest, or they are already covered by numerous other Federal laws that provide enhanced protections on federal lands.
• Rightsizing these national monuments allows for the restoration of public access and traditional multiple-use activities on these Federal lands and waters, such as grazing, timber harvest, fishing, hunting, resource development, infrastructure upgrades, and motorized recreation.

RESTORING MULTIPLE-USE LAND MANAGEMENT: President Trump is restoring public access to Federal land for multiple uses, while allowing for sustained-yield management.

• During President Trump’s first term, he signed the Great American Outdoors Act—the single largest investment in America’s national parks and public lands in history and the most significant conservation achievement since Teddy Roosevelt’s presidency.
  • His Administration also designated 1.3 million new acres of wilderness, added 1,645 miles of new trails to the National Recreational Trails System, and expanded hunting and fishing opportunities across more than 2.3 million acres of land by the end of his first term.
• Immediately upon returning to office, President Trump signed an Executive Order to Unleash American Energy that opened hundreds of millions of acres Federal lands and waters to energy development, and streamlined the permitting process to increase production of reliable and affordable energy.
• In July 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order establishing the Make America Beautiful Again Commission to conserve America’s lands and waters, cut red tape, and drive conservation and economic growth.
• President Trump’s Department of the Interior rescinded the BLM’s Public Lands Rule, reaffirming the commitment to restoring balance in Federal land management by prioritizing multiple use access, elevating local decision-making, and supporting responsible energy development, ranching, grazing, timber production, and recreation.
• In May 2026, President Donald Trump rescinded Executive Order 11644 and Executive Order 11989, which together required agency heads to manage off-road vehicle use on public lands under a set of outdated and subjective criteria.

Source: United States White House

class=”has-text-align-center”>BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

On September 18, 1996, as part of an effort to prevent development of significant coal reserves and other resources on the Kaiparowits Plateau, President Clinton issued Proclamation 6920, which established the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (Monument) in the State of Utah, reserving approximately 1.7 million acres of Federal lands as part of the Monument, and directing that it be managed by the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

On December 4, 2017, exercising my authority under section 320301 of title 54, United States Code (the “Antiquities Act”), I issued Proclamation 9682 to modify the boundaries of the Monument, ensure proper management, and more closely reflect the intent of the Antiquities Act.  Proclamation 9682 removed approximately 860,000 acres from the Monument.  On October 8, 2021, President Biden issued Proclamation 10286, increasing the size of the Monument to approximately 1.87 million acres, the size of the Monument immediately prior to the issuance of Proclamation 9682.

The Antiquities Act authorizes the President to declare historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated on land owned or controlled by the Federal Government to be national monuments.  The Antiquities Act further requires that any parcel of land reserved as part of a monument be confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected.  Where the President determines that the structures and objects identified by a prior monument proclamation no longer are, or never were, deserving of the Antiquities Act’s protections, the Antiquities Act permits the President to remove land from the monument and return it to its prior federally managed status.  Determining the appropriate protective area involves examining several factors, including the uniqueness and nature of the objects to be protected, the nature of the protection needed, the protection provided to those objects by other laws, executive department and agency resources available to manage the parcel, and whether the lands are better suited for other non-monument uses.

Proclamation 10286 suffers from several flaws that warrant its reconsideration.  First, Proclamation 10286 was premised on the purported need to protect items that are not historic landmarks, historic or prehistoric structures, or objects of historic or scientific interest.  This included a long list of generic topographic and geologic features such as “vast and austere landscape[s],” “sedimentary rock layers,” and “bold plateaus and multihued cliffs.”  These generic features described in Proclamation 10286 do not become “landmarks,” “structures,” or “objects of historic or scientific interest” worthy of protection under the Antiquities Act simply because they are scenic.

Second, certain landmarks, structures, or objects identified in Proclamation 10286 that could, in other circumstances, have the necessary historic or scientific interest, are not unique to the Monument, and their relative commonness suggests that the specific instances of such objects found within the Monument are not of particular historic or scientific interest.  Examples of these relatively common objects include cultural, paleontological, and geological resources within the Monument that are found throughout the Four Corners region and, in some cases, throughout the American West.  Accordingly, a monument reservation was neither necessary nor appropriate to protect items that are not historic landmarks, historic or prehistoric structures, or other objects of historic or scientific interest or items that may qualify as such but are sufficiently common to not warrant protection under the Antiquities Act.

Third, because Proclamation 10286 expanded the land reserved for the Monument only to protect objects of no significant historic or scientific interest, that Proclamation disregarded the Antiquities Act’s requirement that the reservation of Federal lands for a national monument be confined to the “smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected.”  Had the reservation been properly tailored to protect only those objects warranting protection under the Antiquities Act, it would have been much smaller.

Finally, the added reservation of land was unnecessary to protect many of the objects of historic or scientific identified by Proclamation 10286, which are already subject to the enhanced protections provided under Federal laws enacted after the Antiquities Act that preserve archaeological, historic, cultural, paleontological resources as well as plants and animals, and their respective habitats.  These laws, including the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 (16 U.S.C. 470aa–470mm), National Historic Preservation Act (54 U.S.C. 300101 et seq.), Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 668–668d), Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), Federal Cave Resources Protection Act of 1988 (16 U.S.C. 4301 et seq.), Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. 703–712), Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1976 (25 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.), and Paleontological Resources Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470aaa–470aaa–11), authorize the BLM to limit and condition activities on Federal lands for the protection of certain natural and cultural resources, whether they are within or outside a national monument.

For instance, the BLM manages more than 800,000 acres of the Monument as Wilderness Study Areas, which the BLM is required by law to manage so as not to impair their suitability for future congressional designation as Wilderness.  As a result, many of the objects previously designated as monuments by Proclamation 10286 are already adequately protected by Federal law and do not require a reservation of land under the Antiquities Act for protection.

The Monument reservation established by Proclamation 10286 is, therefore, not confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of those objects worthy of the Antiquity Act’s protection.  Proper care and management can instead be provided to those objects of historic and scientific interest by a smaller and more appropriate reservation of approximately 181,541 acres comprising two units:  the Canyons of the Escalante Unit and Kaiparowits Horizon Unit.  Revising the boundaries of the Monument in this way will ensure that, in accordance with the Antiquities Act, the reservation is the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected.  Revising the Monument’s boundaries to encompass approximately 181,541 acres will also account for practical limitations on the BLM’s land management resources and funding, ensuring that these remain adequate to provide proper care and management for the Monument now and in the future.  

Revising the boundaries will better align the use of these public lands with the public interest.  The Grand Staircase-Escalante region contains several resources that are vital to our economic and national security.  These resources include several critical minerals, such as chromium, cobalt, copper, iron, lead, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, silver, thorium, titanium, uranium, vanadium, zinc, and zirconium, create jobs, fuel prosperity, and are essential to important sectors of the economy of the United States, including defense, manufacturing, and transportation.  It is imperative that the United States not be dependent on foreign sources of these resources.  Modifying the Monument’s boundaries will help ensure that adequate domestic supplies exist, thereby reducing the threat posed by our Nation’s reliance on foreign sources.

The approximately 172,641-acre Canyons of the Escalante Unit contains the heart of the lands that remain within the Monument.  Carved by the Escalante River and its tributaries, this area contains objects of historic or scientific interest worthy of protection, including the 130-foot-tall Escalante Natural Bridge.  This area also boasts Calf Creek Canyon, a canyon of red alcoved walls with expanses of white slickrock, and other canyons along the Escalante River that contain a high density of Fremont prehistoric sites, including pithouses, villages, and storage cysts, as well as petroglyphs and pictographs, such as the Hundred Hands pictograph panel.  The canyon of the Escalante River and its tributary canyons contain one of the highest densities of rock art sites in southwestern Utah outside of Capitol Reef National Park, with sites dating from the Archaic to the Historic periods.  There are also historic sites of interest in the area related to grazing and ranching, along with the Boulder Mail Trail, which was used to ferry mail between the small desert outpost towns of Escalante and Boulder beginning in 1902.

Objects of historic and scientific interest can also be found in the approximately 8,900-acre Kaiparowits Horizon Unit.  A recently discovered bonebed assemblage has produced rare specimens of theropods, including one of the most complete tyrannosaurid specimens in the region and well-preserved remains of hadrosaurs, turtles, and crocodilians.  The site has provided critical insights into the ancient ecosystems of the Western Interior Seaway and the rich diversity of dinosaurs, reptiles, and other vertebrates and is considered a globally important paleontological resource.  Accordingly, the establishment of the Kaiparowits Horizon Unit serves not only to properly care for and manage this uniquely intact snapshot of ancient biodiversity and environmental conditions, but also to foster continued research, education, and stewardship of a singular resource for the benefit of future generations.

Accordingly, the area described above and on the accompanying map are the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of those objects identified above, which I have determined in my discretion warrant protection under the Antiquities Act.  This modification of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument will maintain and protect those objects and preserve the area’s cultural, scientific, and historic legacy.

WHEREAS, section 320301 of title 54, United States Code, authorizes the President, in his discretion, to declare by public proclamation historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated upon the lands owned or controlled by the Federal Government to be national monuments, and to reserve as a part thereof parcels of land; and

WHEREAS, the Antiquities Act permits the President, in the President’s discretion, to alter a prior declaration of a national monument, including by finding that objects identified in the prior declaration either are no longer deserving of the Antiquities Act’s protections, or never were; and

WHEREAS, many of the items and resources identified by Proclamation 10286 are not historic landmarks, historic structures, or otherwise objects of historic or scientific interest of national importance and, therefore, should not have been declared to be national monuments under the Antiquities Act; and

WHEREAS, many of the resources and objects designated as monuments by Proclamation 10286 do not require a reservation of land to protect them because they are not unique to those areas, were not under threat of damage or destruction before designation, or are sufficiently protected by Federal law; and

WHEREAS, the reservation of land established by Proclamation 10286 was not “the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected;” and

WHEREAS, given the greater budgetary and resource constraints of the BLM than in 2017, the boundaries established by Proclamations 9682 and 10286 encompass areas too vast for the proper care and management of the objects located therein; and

WHEREAS, our Nation’s need to reduce its reliance on foreign sources of several resources vital to our economic and national security, including resources located within the Monument, is greater than it was in 2017, thereby necessitating the exclusion of lands that were retained within the Monument by Proclamation 9682; and

WHEREAS, it is in the public interest to modify the boundaries of the Monument boundary to exclude approximately 1.69 million acres of land that I find are unnecessary for or disadvantageous to the proper care and management of the objects to be protected within the Monument; and

WHEREAS, I find that the boundaries of the Monument as described above and on the accompanying map represent the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects of historic and scientific interest identified above;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by the authority vested in me by section 320301 of title 54, United States Code, hereby proclaim that the boundaries of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument are hereby modified to include those lands owned or controlled by the Federal Government within the boundaries described on the accompanying map, which is attached to and forms a part of this proclamation.  I hereby further proclaim that the modified Monument areas identified on the accompanying map shall be known as the Canyons and Escalante Unit and the Kaiparowits Horizon Unit.  These reserved Federal lands encompass approximately 181,541 acres.  The boundaries described on the accompanying map are confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected.  Any lands reserved by Proclamations 6920, 9682, or 10286 not within the boundaries identified on the accompanying map are hereby excluded from the Monument.

At 9:00 a.m., eastern daylight time, on the date that is 60 days after the date of this proclamation, subject to valid existing rights, the provisions of existing withdrawals, and the requirements of applicable law, the public lands excluded from the Monument reservation shall be open to:

(1)  entry, location, selection, sale, or other disposition under the public land laws;

(2)  disposition under all laws relating to mineral and geothermal leasing; and

(3)  location, entry, and patent under the mining laws.

Appropriation of lands under the mining laws before the date and time of restoration is unauthorized.  Any such attempted appropriation, including attempted adverse possession under 30 U.S.C. 38, shall vest no rights against the United States.  Acts required to establish a location and to initiate a right of possession are governed by State law, where not in conflict with Federal law.

Nothing in this proclamation shall be construed to revoke, modify, or affect any withdrawal, reservation, or appropriation, other than those set forth in Proclamations 6920, 9862 and 10286.

Nothing in this proclamation shall change the management of the areas designated and reserved by Proclamations 6920, 9682, and 10286 that remain part of the Monument in accordance with the terms of this proclamation, except as provided by the following nine paragraphs:

For purposes of providing for the proper care and management of the objects identified above and to facilitate multiple uses that are consistent with the care and management of those objects, the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) shall maintain a management plan for the Monument and shall promulgate such regulations for its management as he deems appropriate.  The Secretary, through the BLM, shall consult with other Federal land management agencies or agency components in the local area, including the National Park Service, when developing any management plan.  The Secretary shall provide for public involvement in the development of the management plan, including consultation with federally recognized Tribes and State and local governments.  In developing and implementing any management plan, the Secretary shall provide opportunities, pursuant to applicable legal authorities, for shared resources, operational efficiency, and cooperation with other Federal land management agencies, State and local governments, and federally recognized Tribes.  When preparing a management plan for the Monument, the Secretary shall take into account, to the maximum extent consistent with the proper care and management of the objects identified above, the importance of (1) providing appropriate access for and otherwise facilitating livestock grazing; (2) maintaining; and (3) improving public access, including for recreation and hunting; and providing educational experiences that reflect the diversity of the Monument’s natural and anthropogenic features and their use throughout the region’s history.

Nothing in this proclamation affects the designation, maintenance, and improvement of existing roads and trails within the Monument, which shall continue to be governed by laws and regulations other than this proclamation.  The Secretary shall prepare a new transportation plan that endeavors to maximize public access in the Monument through the designation of roads and trails on which motorized and non-motorized vehicle use will be allowed as well as provide for appropriate maintenance of those roads and trails.  Pending completion of that transportation plan, the Secretary may allow motorized and non‑motorized vehicle use on roads and trails designated for use before the issuance of Proclamation 6920 and shall maintain roads and trails for such use.

The Secretary shall consider the effects of proposed activities, including potential road closures, on historic roads in the Monument, in accordance with the regulations at 36 C.F.R. part 800, as appropriate.

Consistent with the proper care and management of the objects identified above, the Secretary may authorize ecological restoration and active vegetation management activities in the Monument.  When engaging in management planning for the Monument, the Secretary shall consider the full range of vegetation management tools, including mechanical mastication, grazing, and new vegetation management technology that becomes available in the future.  Additionally, because noxious weeds and invasive plant species increase wildfire risks, the Secretary may authorize the use of available mechanical, natural, and chemical tools for controlling the proliferation of noxious weed and invasive plant species, and all treatment plans should be developed and implemented in coordination with the Garfield and Kane Counties Weed Boards.  Livestock grazing should be utilized as a primary option for mitigating noxious weeds, as well as managing fuels and vegetation.

In recognition of the enduring tradition of livestock grazing in the Monument and its historical and cultural significance to local communities, nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to affect authorizations for livestock grazing, or administration thereof, on Federal lands within the Monument.  Livestock grazing within the Monument shall continue to be governed by the laws and regulations other than this Proclamation.

The Secretary shall endeavor to authorize traditional land uses within the Monument, such as grazing, recreation, timber management, public access, and infrastructure development, to the greatest extent possible, consistent with applicable law.  Where restrictions on proposed uses are necessary to comply with applicable laws, such restrictions shall be narrowly tailored.

The Secretary shall consider livestock grazing lands in the Monument to constitute a traditional cultural place (TCP) and shall consider how proposed activities will impact that TCP in accordance with the regulation at 36 C.F.R. part 800, as appropriate.

If any livestock grazing permits or leases within the Monument are voluntarily relinquished by existing holders, the Secretary shall, within 1 year, re-allocate the relinquished forage, including by issuing a new permit or lease for the relevant allotment, as appropriate, unless the Secretary specifically finds that such reallocation is inconsistent with the proper care and management of the objects identified above.

If any provision of this proclamation, including its application to a particular parcel of land, is held to be invalid, the remainder of this proclamation shall not be affected thereby.  Furthermore, to the extent that any provision of Proclamations 6920, 9682, or 10286 is inconsistent with or contradicts this proclamation, the terms of this proclamation shall govern.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fifty-first.

                             DONALD J. TRUMP

Source: United States White House

This week, the Trump Administration convenes the inaugural Fentanyl Free America Summit, bringing together partners from across the country to lock in and accelerate the historic progress achieved against the deadliest drug threat in history.

Thanks to the Trump Administration’s relentless, multi-front campaign — securing the border, targeting transnational gangs, and applying maximum pressure on foreign suppliers and narcoterrorists — fentanyl deaths have collapsed and continue falling sharply.

Under President Trump, the fentanyl death toll has plunged:

• Synthetic opioid (fentanyl) deaths dropped 22% in a single year — from 48,913 in 2024 to 38,084 in 2025.
• Total drug overdose deaths fell 14% — from 81,313 in 2024 to 69,973 in 2025.
• America recorded its lowest overall death rate ever in 2025, driven in large part by these sharp declines in drug fatalities.

President Trump is dismantling the fentanyl supply chain at every link:

• President Trump designated major cartels — including Tren de Aragua, MS-13, and Sinaloa — as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists, unlocking powerful sanctions, asset seizures, and enhanced prosecutorial tools to crush their operations.
• President Trump signed the HALT Fentanyl Act, permanently classifying fentanyl analogs as Schedule I drugs and closing the chemical loopholes traffickers had exploited for years.
• President Trump designated illicit fentanyl and its core precursors as Weapons of Mass Destruction, enabling harsher penalties, expanded seizure authorities, and treating this poison with the full force of national security tools.

President Trump is applying maximum pressure on foreign suppliers and enablers:

• President Trump imposed targeted fentanyl tariffs on China — later expanded to Canada and Mexico — forcing Beijing to tighten controls on 13 key precursor chemicals.
• President Trump closed the de minimis loophole, ending the flow of millions of uninspected packages that traffickers used to smuggle fentanyl precursors and finished product into the country.

President Trump is disrupting the supply of fentanyl at its source:

• U.S. military forces have conducted strikes on dozens of narcotrafficking vessels in the Pacific and Caribbean, severely degrading maritime supply routes.
• Nationwide fentanyl seizures fell 45% in FY2025 as upstream disruption starved the flow reaching U.S. borders.
• DEA testing confirms President Trump’s sustained pressure is forcing traffickers to dilute product; only 29% of seized fentanyl pills now contain a potentially lethal dose — down from 76% just two years ago.

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President Trump’s ironclad commitment to border security and relentless pressure on every node of the supply chain is delivering these lifesaving results — and America is finally winning the fight against fentanyl.

Source: United States White House

President Donald J. Trump reflected on the life and legacy of Senator Lindsey Graham following his sudden passing this weekend. Speaking in several interviews, President Trump spoke of his close friendship with the longtime Senator from South Carolina and heralded Senator Graham’s sharp political instincts, his courage in important moments, and his deep commitment to the country.

• President Trump described the loss as deeply personal: “He’s a tough one to lose. He was great — he was unique in every way… I just can’t believe it. He was like a member of the family to me. It’s very tough, actually. He was such an advocate.”
• President Trump reflected on his final conversation with Senator Graham: “It’s devastating. I thought he was fine. He called me last night… What a terrible loss it is. He was a great politician. He was a natural. There are very few of them. He was a natural politician. He got along with everybody.”
• President Trump singled out Senator Graham’s passionate defense of Brett Kavanaugh as a standout Senate moment: “I think his finest moment was his defense of Brett Kavanaugh, who’s terrific guy and was treated very, very unfairly by the Democrats… I think it was a top ten, maybe a top five, moment in the history of the Senate. It was an incredible display, and he did it from the heart. He felt strongly about Brett, and he did it from the heart — and it turned that whole thing around.”
• President Trump praised Senator Graham’s political skill and ability to build relationships: “He got along with everybody and yet, he was a tough cookie in a lot of ways. Honestly, he was a great politician. People don’t realize what a good politician he was… This man was a great politician. He really got it.”
• President Trump reflected on Senator Graham’s broader legacy: “We lost a great man. He was a great man. He was a great politician, and he was a kind man… The real loser was the United States of America. We lost a great person, a kind person, a very smart person… Everything for him was about work. It was about loving the country.”

Source: United States White House

class=”has-text-align-center”>BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

As a mark of respect for the memory and longstanding service of Senator Lindsey Graham, I hereby order, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until 6:00 p.m. on July 18, 2026.  I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half‑staff for the same period at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fifty-first.

                             DONALD J. TRUMP

Source: United States White House

A convicted child sex offender is no longer in our country thanks to President Donald J. Trump and his Administration — defeating a sick attempt by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison to lend him safe harbor in the so-called “sanctuary” state.

Laotian national Tou Lue Vang was convicted of repeatedly sexually abusing a 10-year-old girl in Minnesota, which he excused as a “minor thing” and blamed it on “cultural norms” in foreign countries. An immigration judge ordered his removal in 2006.

In a brazen effort to shield the criminal illegal alien predator from imminent deportation, Walz and Ellison pardoned him — protecting an illegal alien child sex abuser over the American citizens they supposedly represent.

The Trump Administration rejected this outrageous affront to justice. Secretary of State Marco Rubio terminated Vang’s legal status and the Department of Homeland Security deported him immediately.

This case exposes the depravity of the Radical Left: they will literally pardon child rapists and defy federal law to protect criminal illegals. Walz and Ellison stood with a monster who preyed on a 10-year-old girl; the Trump Administration stands with American families.

Under President Trump, criminal illegal aliens who rape children will be found, arrested, and removed — and Democrat politicians will not stand in the way.

Source: United States White House

SUPPORTING AMERICAN INDUSTRY: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed a Proclamation pursuant to Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (Act) ordering the U.S. Secretary of Commerce and U.S. Trade Representative to jointly negotiate agreements with trading partners to address the threatened impairment of national security with respect to commercial aircraft, jet engines, and their associated parts from any country. 

• In these negotiations, the Administration will work with our trading partners to address, among other things, the impact of foreign imports on the health of the U.S. commercial aerospace industry.
• The Secretary of Commerce will inform the President of any circumstances that might indicate the need for further action under Section 232 with respect to commercial aircraft, jet engines, and their associated parts.
• The President may also take other actions he deems necessary to adjust imports of commercial aircraft, jet engines, and their associated parts to eliminate the threat to impair the national security of the United States, including if the agreements directed to be negotiated are not entered into within 180 days of the proclamation, are not being carried out, or are ineffective. 

ADDRESSING THE THREAT TO NATIONAL SECURITY: President Trump recognizes that commercial aircraft, jet engines, and associated parts are essential to the operation of key sectors of the U.S. economy that support our national security. 

• The United States Government uses large commercial aircraft to support national defense requirements such as performing essential military operations, responding to emergencies, conducting official travel, and transporting cargo and troops. 
• The U.S. aircraft industry is currently facing challenges to meet economic and national security demands because decades of foreign government market interventions have unfairly eroded our producers’ global market share. This has led to a diminished domestic manufacturing capacity, the loss of skilled workers, industry consolidation, and rising costs of production.  
• Without a robust domestic commercial aerospace ecosystem, U.S. defense industries and services that depend on the domestic commercial aerospace industry will face further rising costs, supply uncertainty, and backlogs in orders of military aircraft, engines, and parts.
• The U.S. commercial aircraft manufacturing sector and its broader industrial base are significant drivers of high-value economic activity, industrial innovation, and wage growth for American workers.

BUILDING ON A RECORD OF SECURING CRITICAL INDUSTRIES: President Trump has long recognized that America’s national security and economic strength depend on restoring key sectors of our industrial base.

• In his first term, President Trump revolutionized international trade by using Section 232 to address decades of short-sighted, globalist trade policies that had allowed our domestic steel and aluminum industries to weaken, impairing our national security.
• Since returning to office, President Trump has continued taking actions under Section 232 to protect and strengthen domestic manufacturing critical for our national and economic security, including imposing and strengthening tariffs on key goods, such as steel, aluminum, copper, trucks and automobiles, timber, lumber, and pharmaceuticals.
• Through negotiations with foreign trading partners and the strategic use of tariffs, President Trump has secured trillions in private and foreign investment to bring American jobs and manufacturing back to the United States while diversifying global supply chains and reducing dependence on adversarial nations.

Source: United States White House

class=”has-text-align-center”>BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

1.  Within the past 90 days, the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) transmitted to me a report on his investigation into the effects of imports of commercial aircraft, jet engines, and their associated parts on the national security of the United States under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended, 19 U.S.C. 1862 (section 232).  Based on the facts considered in that investigation, and taking into account the close relation of the economic welfare of the Nation to our national security and other relevant factors, see 19 U.S.C. 1862(d), the Secretary found and advised me of his opinion that commercial aircraft, jet engines, and their associated parts are being imported into the United States in such quantities and under such circumstances as to threaten to impair the national security of the United States.

2.  Among other things, the Secretary found that commercial aircraft, jet engines, and their associated parts are essential to the national security and economy of the United States.  Such products and their related industries provide critical functions for a variety of key sectors of the United States, including defense, cargo, transportation, and tourism.  The United States commercial aircraft manufacturing and industrial base not only supports national defense requirements but also is an important driver of United States economic activity and well-paying American jobs.

3.  For example, the United States Government uses large commercial aircraft — and military aircraft, engines, and parts derived from commercial variants — to perform certain military operations, respond to emergencies, conduct official travel, and transport cargo and troops to advance national security objectives.  Commercial aircraft operated by commercial carriers support national defense requirements by providing air transportation and operational support services to the Department of War (DoW), including Service Component Commands of the United States Transportation Command:  Air Mobility Command, Military Sealift Command, and United States Army Transportation Command.  Further, the manufacturing and industrial base for commercial aircraft, jet engines, and their associated parts supplies DoW with dual-use products and commercially derived defense-specific products, as well as provides important capability to perform maintenance, repair, and overhaul services.

4.  The Secretary found that the United States aircraft industry is facing challenges to adequately meet economic and national security demands.  These challenges are caused by, among other things, actions and practices of foreign countries, overreliance on foreign imports, and insufficient incentives to invest domestically.

5.  The Secretary found that the actions and practices of foreign countries have for decades harmed, and continue to harm, the United States commercial aircraft manufacturing industry, leading to an underutilization of domestic manufacturing capacity, a harmful cycle of qualified workforce decline, industry consolidation, and rising costs of production.  The resulting loss of skilled job opportunities and aerospace downsizing efforts, for example, have led to high production costs and delays, hindering the ability of domestic industry to satisfy national security requirements.  

6.  The Secretary found that the United States aircraft industry is too reliant on foreign supply chains, raising national security concerns.  For example, imported aircraft parts pose safety and security risks because of quality control and counterfeiting.  Non-compliant and counterfeit components have led to numerous issues, including the removals of aircraft from service, fuselage corrosion, and compromised jet engines, affecting both commercial and defense fleets.  Quality control and counterfeiting issues from foreign imports thus raise risks to the national security of the United States.  And foreign import reliance intolerably leaves the United States aerospace supply chain vulnerable to exogenous shocks and foreign manipulation.

7.  The Secretary found that foreign imports and competition, without intervention, will continue to harm the United States aircraft industry and hinder the incentives for United States producers to invest in developing and expanding manufacturing capacity, production, and their workforce, at a time in which they are already facing challenges to meet economic and national security demands.  For example, foreign imports and competition weaken the United States labor supply by reducing incentives for domestic production, as manufacturers often outsource work or rely on imported components to cut costs, lowering demand for United States labor in manufacturing and maintenance and preventing domestic manufacturers from optimizing output.  Competitive pressure from lower-cost foreign suppliers also forces United States firms to keep wages stagnant or limit hiring, making aircraft manufacturing jobs less appealing compared to other industries.  Without these investments, United States defense industries and services that vitally depend on a robust and resilient domestic commercial aerospace industry will likely face rising costs, supply uncertainty, and potential backlogs in procurement and orders of military aircraft, engines, and parts. 

8.  The Secretary found that the present quantities and circumstances of imports of commercial aircraft, jet engines, and their associated parts threaten to impair the national security of the United States. 

9.  In light of these findings and the others in the Secretary’s report, the Secretary recommended that the President direct further discussions and negotiations with foreign jurisdictions to address the threatened impairment to the national security posed by imports of commercial aircraft, jet engines, and their associated parts.  The Secretary also recommended that no immediate tariffs be imposed under section 232 to address the threatened impairment to the national security posed by imports of commercial aircraft, jet engines, and their associated parts. 

10.  After considering the Secretary’s report, the factors in section 232(d) (19 U.S.C. 1862(d)), and other relevant factors and information, I concur with the Secretary’s finding that commercial aircraft, jet engines, and their associated parts are being imported into the United States in such quantities and under such circumstances as to threaten to impair the national security of the United States.  In my judgment, and in light of the Secretary’s report, the factors in section 232(d) (19 U.S.C. 1862(d)), and other relevant factors and information, I determine that it is necessary and appropriate to enter into negotiations with trading partners to adjust the imports of commercial aircraft, jet engines, and their associated parts so that such imports will not threaten to impair the national security of the United States.

11.  I therefore direct the Secretary and the United States Trade Representative (Trade Representative) to jointly pursue negotiation of agreements or continue any current negotiations of agreements to address the threatened impairment of the national security with respect to imported commercial aircraft, jet engines, and their associated parts, with any foreign trading partner the Secretary and the Trade Representative deem appropriate, and to update me on the progress of such negotiations within 180 days of the date of this proclamation.  Under current circumstances and in light of future requirements of the United States, this course of action is necessary and appropriate to address the threatened impairment of the national security.  Depending on the status or outcome of such negotiations, I may consider alternative remedies in the future.

12.  Section 232 authorizes the President to take action to adjust the imports of an article and its derivatives that are being imported into the United States in such quantities or under such circumstances as to threaten to impair the national security of the United States.  Section 232 includes the authority to adopt and carry out a plan of action, with adjustments over time, to address the national security threat.  That initial plan of action may include negotiations of agreements along with other actions to adjust imports to address the national security threat, including tariffs.  Moreover, if action under section 232 includes the negotiation of an agreement, such as one contemplated in section 232(c)(3)(A)(i) (19 U.S.C. 1862(c)(3)(A)(i)), the President may also take other actions he deems necessary to adjust imports so that such imports will not threaten to impair the national security of the United States, including if such an agreement is not entered into within 180 days of the date of this proclamation or is not being carried out or is ineffective.  See 19 U.S.C. 1862(c)(3)(A).

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, including section 232, and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, do hereby proclaim as follows:

(1)  The Secretary and the Trade Representative, and any senior executive branch official they deem appropriate, shall jointly pursue or continue pursuing negotiations of agreements to address the threatened impairment of the national security with respect to imports of commercial aircraft, jet engines, and their associated parts. 

(2)  The Secretary and the Trade Representative, in consultation with any other senior executive branch officials they deem appropriate, shall, from time to time, update me on the status or outcome of the negotiations described in this proclamation.  The Secretary and the Trade Representative shall provide one of these updates within 180 days of the date of this proclamation.

(3)  The Secretary shall continue to monitor imports of commercial aircraft, jet engines, and their associated parts.  The Secretary also shall, from time to time, in consultation with any senior executive branch officials the Secretary deems appropriate, review the status of such imports with respect to the national security.  The Secretary shall inform me of any circumstances that, in the Secretary’s opinion, might indicate the need for further action by the President under section 232. 

(4)  Any provision of previous proclamations and Executive Orders that is inconsistent with this proclamation is superseded to the extent of such inconsistency.  If any provision of this proclamation or the application of any provision of this proclamation to any individual or circumstance is held to be invalid, the remainder of this proclamation and the application of its provisions to any other individual or circumstance shall not be affected.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this ninth day of July, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fifty-first.

                             DONALD J. TRUMP