1:17
- ABC News
- March 7, 2018
Interior Sec. defends decision to lift trophy ban
Interior Sec. Ryan Zinke defended the administration's reversal of the ban
1:17
The president also tweeted that hunting elephants was \"horror show\" and said in an interview a few months later that he didn't support the practice.
\"I didn't want elephants killed and stuffed and have the tusks brought back into this and people can talk all they want about preservation and all the things that they're saying where money goes toward, well money was, in that case, going toward a government that's probably taking the money, okay,\" Trump told Piers Morgan in an interview in January
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/International/africa-elephants-zimbabwe-ap-mem-170927_2_22x15_384.jpg\")
Permits to bring trophies from elephants killed abroad would not apply to ivory, which is illegal in the U.S.
The president's sons have been pictured on big game hunts and even standing next to a dead elephant while holding its severed tail. They have said that hunting is an important part of conservation efforts.
Members of Congress and animal advocacy groups condemned the administration's new policy this week and said it is not in line with the president's previous statements about the policy.
Members of the Congressional Animal Protection Caucus Reps. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon, and Vern Buchanan, R-Florida, called on the president to preserve the ban in a statement.
\"This news is disappointing and disturbing and is a clear break from the president’s promise to uphold the current ban on these imports. Elephants need protection and subverting this ban only puts these animals at risk. As co-chairs of the Congressional Animal Protection Caucus, we urge the president to uphold his executive authority and fully retain the ban,” they said in a statement.
Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, tweeted that the move was \"enraging.\"
Enraging – @realDonaldTrump reverses course again on #ElephantTrophyBan. We don't need loopholes for ultra-wealthy individuals to cruelly hunt and carve up this magnificent, intelligent species struggling to survive. https://t.co/udyw7vC6WX
— Senator Jeff Merkley (@SenJeffMerkley) March 6, 2018
Other advocacy groups like the Humane Society of the United States, which is involved in the lawsuit with the government over the issue, said the move will move more of the decisions behind closed doors.
\"We are extremely troubled by the fact that they are attempting to do business as usual just under a different name,\" Humane Society attorney Anna Frostic said in an interview on Monday.
More filings and rulings are expected in the ongoing lawsuit in the coming weeks.
ABC News' Mariam Khan contributed to this report.
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