© 2026 ABC News

The decision to shrink the monument will be the second time in recent weeks that Native American groups have been unhappy with the president. In an event honoring Navajo code talkers the president used his nickname for Sen. Elizabeth Warren, \"Pocahontas,\" which many groups said is offensive to Native Americans.

\"Trump

The president called for the review of 27 monuments designated under the Antiquities Act in an executive order signed in April. Zinke visited several of the monuments, including Bears Ears and Grand Staircase, before sending his recommendations to Trump in May.

The review included more than 2.8 million public comments.

When the order was signed, Trump criticized monuments designated under the Obama administration as an overreach of executive power, calling them a \"federal land grab.\"

Monday's announcement is expected to face almost immediate legal challenges from environmental groups and groups that advocate for protecting public lands who say that the Antiquities Act does not give the president the authority to eliminate national monuments once they've been created.

The Antiquities Act was enacted in 1906 and grants presidents the power to declare land a federal monument but does not specifically say that a president can eliminate a national monument.

The Congressional Research Service wrote a report on this issue in 2016 that found that while the Antiquities Act doesn't specifically grant the president the power to shrink or eliminate monuments it does say that monument size \"shall be confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected,\" which could be used to justify making the monument smaller.

A draft of Zinke's recommendations published by the Washington Post includes suggestions to change eight additional monuments but it's unclear if Trump will make announcement about those on Monday. The draft also shows that Zinke recommended the president create four new national monuments, including an area sacred to the Blackfeet Nation in his home state of Montana, the Medgar Evers home in Jackson, Mississippi, and a Union Army supply depot site in Kentucky.

Trump will travel to Utah on Monday. The Salt Lake Tribune reports that he is not expected to visit either of the monuments, but is expected to meet with leaders from the Mormon Church.

","canonicalUrl":"https://abcnews.com/Politics/trump-expected-announce-decision-shrink-national-monuments-utah/story?id=51462273","legacySlug":"/news/story/trump-expected-announce-decision-shrink-national-monuments-utah-51462273","noIndexNoFollow":false},"publishTime":"00:22","publishDate":"12-01-2017","updatedTime":"00:22","updatedDate":"12-01-2017","socialImage":{"alt":"The sun sets over Valley of the Gods in Bears Ears National Monument seen from the Moki Dugway June 11, 2017 north of Mexican Hat, Utah. ","credit":"Katherine Frey/The Washington Post via Getty Images","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/Politics/National-monuments-01-gty-jrl-171129_16x9_1600.jpg","width":992,"height":558},"datePublished":"12/1/2017 00:22:33 GMT","video":{"live":false,"id":51462273,"headline":"Trump could announce decision to shrink monuments","mediaAssetTitle":"MONUMENTS REVIEW ANNOUNCEMENT","description":"Trump has weighed reducing the size of several national monuments.","duration":"0:52","posterImg":{"url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","width":608,"height":342},"video":{"feed":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2017/11/171129_vod_orig_monumentsMIX1_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"},"playlist":["38938028","51414604","47028384"]},"relatedItems":[{"contentType":"story","date":"May 9, 2016","headline":"A Brief History of the National Park Service","section":"news","slug":"/news/story/history-national-park-service-century-conservation-38938028","id":38938028,"image":{"alt":"A Brief History of the National Park Service","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/ABC_national_parks_bh_jef_160506_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"National Park Service/ABC News ","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"November 27, 2017","headline":"Trump makes 'Pocahontas' quip at Navajo code talker event","section":"news","slug":"/news/story/trump-makes-pocahontas-quip-navajo-code-talker-event-51414604","id":51414604,"image":{"alt":"Trump makes 'Pocahontas' quip at Navajo code talker event","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/Politics/donald-trump-navajo-code-talkers-2-rt-jt-171127_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Susan Walsh/AP","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"April 26, 2017","headline":"Trump slams 'massive federal land grab,' calls for review of national monuments","section":"news","slug":"/news/story/trump-slams-massive-federal-land-grab-calls-review-47028384","id":47028384,"image":{"alt":"Trump slams 'massive federal land grab,' calls for review of national monuments","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/Politics/ap-trump-2-er-170426_2_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo","ratio":"1x1"}}],"relatedContentSection":"news","schemaContent":{"name":"Trump could announce decision to shrink monuments","description":"Trump has weighed reducing the size of several national monuments.","duration":"0:52","uploadDate":"12-01-2017","publication":"12-01-2017","images":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","url":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2017/11/171129_vod_orig_monumentsMIX1_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","contentUrl":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2017/11/171129_vod_orig_monumentsMIX1_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","link":"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/news/story/trump-expected-announce-decision-shrink-national-monuments-utah-51462273"}},"playlist":[{"id":"132281378","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132283010","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132273278","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132231169","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132206748","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132200241","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132054443","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132054798","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132033010","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131912713","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131830583","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131834976","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131554765","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131554815","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131543053","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131432442","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131121474","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131247079","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131228784","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131178806","contentType":"story","section":"news"}],"kvps":{"pgtyp":"article","lang":"en","sp":"goodmorningamerica","programmatic":"true","bundleId":"com.abcnews"}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewwdgnewgmaweb","ns":"gma","pageName":"gma:news:video","pageType":"video","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"gma:site","tagID":"g_page01","userABCookie":"0","section":"news","title":"Trump could announce decision to shrink monuments","pubTime":"19:22","pubDate":"11-30-2017","modTime":"19:22","modDate":"11-30-2017","taxonomyTags":"none","id":51462273,"editorialOtherSubjects":"","wordCount":"none","columns":"none","authors":"","authorsUnit":"none","authorsBureau":"none","subBrand":"Good Morning America","provider":"Good Morning America","videoName":"Trump could announce decision to shrink monuments","mediaAssetTitle":"MONUMENTS REVIEW ANNOUNCEMENT","videoId":51462273,"mediaOnPage":"video","legacySlug":"/news/story/trump-expected-announce-decision-shrink-national-monuments-utah-51462273"},"taboola":{}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/video/51462273","vary":{"host":"www.goodmorningamerica.com","cached":true,"path":"/video/51462273","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","userab":"0"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};