Watch live: Trump expected to announce decision on shrinking national monuments

by The Hill staff - 12/04/17 11:30 AM ET

President Trump on Monday afternoon is expected to announce his intentions to shrink at least two national monuments in Utah.

Trump will visit Salt Lake City to detail plans to shrink the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments.

Trump earlier this year ordered the Interior Department to consider 27 large national monuments, including Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, for modification or elimination. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has proposed shrinking some monuments, including the 1.3 million-acre Bears Ears, but not eliminating any of them.

{mosads}Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said in October that Trump had committed to reducing Bears Ears, a monument designated by former President Barack Obama in his final month in the Oval Office.

The Bears Ears designation protects Native American artifacts in southern Utah. It was one of Obama’s largest monument designations, and its status has angered Western conservatives who contend the federal government has too much power over land use issues.

Trump is set to speak at 2:40 p.m.

Watch live in the video above.

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