The Trump administration’s Justice Department has issued a legal opinion asserting that the president holds the authority to revoke national monument designations made by previous administrations. This opinion challenges a long-standing interpretation of the Antiquities Act, which many believed barred the reversal of monument status once granted.
The ruling paves the way for President Trump to potentially rescind several national monument designations issued during the final months of President Biden’s term, particularly those affecting more than 850,000 acres in California’s Chuckwalla and Sáttítla Highlands.
These areas were restricted from energy development, mineral extraction, and other activities, sparking backlash from local industry groups and property rights advocates. According to the Trump DOJ’s interpretation, the president has full legal authority to reverse those protections.
“The President of the United States is hereby authorized, 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 Government of the United States to be national monuments, and may reserve as a part thereof parcels of land, the limits of Revocation of Prior Monument Designations which in all cases shall be confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected,” the opinion stated.
Critics viewed the Biden administration’s national monument designations as a setback for energy independence and local economic development, arguing that such measures often come at the expense of working-class communities.
Trump has consistently voiced skepticism toward broad federal land protections, particularly those implemented without local input. In 2017, he moved to reduce the size of two large national monuments in Utah that had been designated under President Obama.
“If the President can declare that his predecessor was wrong regarding the value of preserving one such object on a given parcel, there is nothing preventing him from declaring that his predecessor was wrong about all such objects on a given parcel,” the DOJ opinion noted further.
During his first term, Trump oversaw significant changes in the management of national parks and public lands. In 2017, he reduced the size of two major national monuments in Utah—Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante—by a combined total of 2 million acres. He also advocated for expanded energy development on federal lands as part of his broader push for energy independence.
