Trump bows to pressure on game
U.S. president reverses decision to allow import of trophy elephants
WASHINGTON — A combination of public and private pressure prompted President Donald Trump to overturn his administration’s recent move to allow elephants shot for sport in Zimbabwe and Zambia to be imported back to the United States as trophies, according to interviews with several individuals briefed on the decision.
Trump’s announcement Friday that he was putting the decision “on hold” until he could personally review it marked animal welfare activists’ first federal victory since the president took office in January, and came just hours after the White House press secretary had defended the idea of renewing the controversial trophy imports.
The administration faced blistering criticism on both the left and right after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Wednesday that it would end a 2014 government ban on big-game trophy hunting in Zimbabwe and Zambia.
Several conservative pundits and lawmakers questioned the decision and this criticism didn’t sit well with Trump, who himself has criticized big-game hunting.
A White House official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter on the record, said the president became uncomfortable with the decision as he learned more about it and decided to act.
“Put big game trophy decision on hold until such time as I review all conservation facts,” Trump wrote Friday night on Twitter. “Under study for years. Will update soon with Secretary Zinke. Thank you!”
Trump’s announcement came hours after press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders defended the trophy import authorization, saying it resulted from a review by “career officials” that began in 2014 under former president Barack Obama.
Career officials at Fish and Wildlife did make the decision to renew the imports, according to individuals briefed on the decision who asked for anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. But political appointees at Interior did press for resolution of the issue, which is a top priority for hunting industry allies of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.
The negative backlash to the import decision, which was first announced by the Safari Club International’s Foundation arm during a conference with African wildlife managers in Tanzania last week, appeared to take the White House by surprise. A similar change affecting African lion trophies had gone mostly unnoticed since it took effect last month, and it is not clear whether Trump was aware of that earlier decision.
Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States, spent part of Friday on Capitol Hill with Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law, meeting with Republican lawmakers to push for passage of several animal protection bills.
In recent months she has met with White House officials as well as Cabinet members to press for action on a number of fronts, including connecting homeless pets with veterans, preventing wild horses from being euthanized, and stricter enforcement of policies related to “puppy mill” operations.